Lake Oconee Academy athletics will have a new leader guiding the program into the 2026-27 school year, as Patrick Croffie takes over as the school’s new athletic director.
Croffie replaces Chris Ingle, who transitioned into a new role as LOA’s director of operations & strategic initiatives while continuing to serve as the Titans’ varsity volleyball and girls golf head coach.
For Croffie, the move represents an opportunity to continue building on a program that has established itself as one of the strongest athletic departments in the area.
“I’m excited to move into this new role,” Croffie said. “Coach Ingle did a great job of setting the standard.”
Before taking over as athletic director, Croffie spent the past two years at LOA as dean of students and served as the middle school athletic director last school year.
Before joining the Titans, he was a middle school athletic director and physical education teacher at Westside Middle School in Barrow County.
Upon arriving at LOA, Croffie told school CEO Dr. Brad Bowling his long-term goal was to become an athletic director. While he initially joined the Titans as dean of students, he quickly grew to love the position.
After two years as dean of students and a season as middle school athletic director, Croffie expected to continue in both roles. Instead, LOA leadership approached him about taking over the entire athletic department.
“I just remember Dr. Bowling calling me into his office and saying, ‘We’ve got a great opportunity for you,’” Croffie said. “We think that moving you to athletics would also elevate the program. Even to this day, I was like, I don’t know how I elevate something that’s already been so great.”
LOA athletics has enjoyed tremendous success in recent years, including state championships in multiple sports and consistent finishes among the top programs in Georgia.
Croffie said his biggest responsibility will be maintaining the standards that have made the Titans successful.
“The biggest thing with that is making sure that we are maintaining the standard and expectations we have for our coaches and our athletes,” Croffie said. “I don’t think that should waver or change by any means.”
Croffie emphasized that expectations will remain consistent across all sports while also implementing evaluations to help coaches continue to improve.
“How do you know what you’re doing well in or what you need to progress in or what you need help with if you’re not evaluating your performance every season, throughout the season, at the end of the season?” he said.
While LOA has traditionally been dominant in sports such as golf, tennis, and one-act play, Croffie wants to continue growing every area of the athletic program.
“With the Directors Cup, we’ve got game points in a lot of different sports,” Croffie said. “But it’s time to elevate all the sports and not rely on just the golf and the tennis and one-act, but rely on those big sports like basketball, football, and soccer. We want to elevate the athletic program as a whole.”
As he begins his first year as athletic director, Croffie also wants to increase excitement and engagement throughout the LOA community.
One of his goals is to create more energy around Titans athletics through improved social media presence, stronger community involvement, and increased student participation.
“I think we need to bring excitement back to LOA,” Croffie said. “We need to make up our social media, we need to invite the community, we need to invite others around us so that it’s not just about LOA, it’s about the community and how special this place is.”
Croffie hopes to see packed crowds at LOA events and wants the entire student body to feel connected to Titans athletics.
“The goal is to have a thousand percent participation with our student body,” Croffie said. “But also bringing in the community, bringing in families. Building that excitement, that fanfare and bringing the juice – the energy will be crucial for the success of this school year’s athletics.”
With a successful foundation already in place, Croffie believes the next step is continuing to push the Titans toward even greater heights.
“It’s just a matter of keeping the ball rolling, keeping the momentum rolling and building our program to be even more elite than it is already,” he said.