As an athlete, a coach, an administrator and a parent, Frank Mello has been around athletics for most of his life.

And with the diverse range of experiences he's had - and with his desire to return to an athletics-centric job - the move into the position of activities director at Kelly Walsh seems like his perfect fit.

Mello, who has been a teacher, coach and assistant principal at KW, was introduced as the school's new AD on Friday. Mello, who was the Natrona County's district-wide activities director for five years before taking over as the transitions administrator working with at-risk students, said the move back to KW is one he's ready to make.

"It is so exciting for me on many different levels," Mello said. "Athletics has been a part of my life since I've been a very little person … so professionally, that's a great opportunity.

"It just makes the hair on the back of my head stand up, I'm so excited."

For Tim Ray, the current AD for the Natrona County School District, Mello's move back to KW makes sense.

"Frank brings experience from all different levels," Ray said. " … Frank knows what the athletic director's position is all about.

"It's just a tremendous amount of detail work, and Frank has proven himself to be a very detail-oriented person over the years."

With 29 years of experience in the Casper school system, Mello has seen a little bit of everything - something that helped sell KW Principal Brad Diller on Mello's return to the building.

Diller said there were plenty of good applicants, and four finalists interviewed for the job, but none brought the depth and breadth of experience like Mello.

"We felt Frank was the guy," Diller said. "His wealth of experience was a great asset."

Mello has a list of priorities, chief among them is making sure equipment and facilities are up to par in time for the start of fall sports on Aug. 10. There are plenty of other tasks to accomplish between now and then, and he's wasted no time in addressing them - including taking some time over the July 4 holiday weekend to line out his plans for the next few weeks.

Mello knows there's no time to waste, even with five weeks between now and the start of fall practice.

"Before long, people will be on the court and the track and the fields," Mello said.

And, once again, he has the chance to be in the middle of it all.

Contact high school sports coordinator Patrick Schmiedt at (307) 266-0615 or patrick.schmiedt@trib.com. Read his blog at tribtown.trib.com/patrickschmiedt/blog.