AIA longtime Director of Athletics and Activities Dean Visser is retiring after a career spanning more than 22 years at the AIA’s Phoenix headquarters.

The Iowa native found his way to Tempe’s Grace Christian Community Church as a teacher, coach and athletic administrator shortly after college graduation. Following a few years of helping the school grow, Visser went into the business realm but kept coaching youth sports on the side.

Through his passion for preparing athletes for high school competition, Visser met former AIA Executive Director Harold Slemmer, who was the principal of Mountain Pointe High School at the time, as Slemmer’s daughter was one of Visser’s athletes. The two stayed in contact through the years before Slemmer invited Visser to join the AIA as a tournament coordinator to fill the role of a recently retired administrator.

Visser hit the ground running in November of 2002, immersing himself as a tournament coordinator. Through the years, he has overseen most of the sports the association governs. At the time of his retirement, he directly handled golf, cross country, wrestling and softball. He also oversaw badminton and tennis in recent years.

The addition of AIA girls wrestling was a milestone during the 2018-19 school year. Visser successfully helped keep the state championship tournament operating as a three-day event despite a 36% increase in competitors.

“The biggest thing is relationships. Relationships I’ve had with coaches, ADs and with different entities, whether it’s ASU, UofA, City of Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe - those kinds of relationships are memorable. But above all, the staff I’ve worked with. The relationships we’ve had in the office over the years needed to be tight,” Visser said.

In addition to sports offerings, Visser also helped promote the statewide activities of chess and robotics. Visser jokes that he has handed out more trophies and medallions than anyone on staff. Through his hundreds of championship events over the years, that is most certainly the case. And it was fitting that he handed out his last trophy at his last game, the 6A softball finals on May 19. 

“I’ve been to a lot of championships, and to see the end result of all the planning is fantastic," Visser said. "Just seeing the kids and the excitement they have, the dedication, and just the high level of competition is fun.

“What I learned from my upbringing was show up, work hard, be kind, and take the high road. Those four things I try to bring through with whatever I do. I want people who know me the best to respect me the most. That’s an important piece to me.”