In the span of 15 minutes, Mark McCarthy has coordinated school busses, fielded requests for the simple (a screwdriver) and the complex (more busses) and embarked on a search for a package of socks for the soccer teams that was supposed to arrive earlier in the morning. The socks are somewhere in Vineyard Haven — but they need to be at the high school before noon. There are matches to be played later in the day.

“It’s busy,” said Mr. McCarthy, the newly appointed athletic director at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, in an interview Tuesday. Mr. McCarthy is far from unfamiliar with his job; he was also the high school athletic director 20 years ago, not long after his own regional high school graduation in 1979. He took over the reins from Sandy Mincone in early August.

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Splitting the defense and headed for goooooooal! — Ivy Ashe

“We felt it was a good time to move back to the Vineyard,” said Mr. McCar-thy of his family’s decision to return to the Island from Connecticut after his son completed high school this past June. The “new” job fell into place easily.

The school has changed since the days of Mr. McCarthy’s initial tenure as athletic director — the entire wing where his office sits was not yet built — but the job itself is much the same, consisting of behind-the-scenes work that keeps the sports programs running smoothly. With a bit of help from others, of course.

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Boys’ soccer team huddles up during match against Dennis-Yarmouth. — Ivy Ashe

“Sandy and the coaches put me in a really good position {to get started],” Mr. McCarthy said, noting that nearly all of the fall scheduling had already been set up before his arrival.

The Vineyarders’ current conference, the Eastern Athletic Conference, is smaller than the Mayflower League, where the school used to compete, allowing for more nonleague matchups in the schedule. Teams in the Cape Cod leagues want to play against the Vineyard, said Mr. McCarthy, as does Nantucket, making schedule gaps easier to fill.

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Ashleen Cafarelli (right) and Elsie Fantasia Cheer. — Ivy Ashe

The biggest issue faced so far by the sports teams has been the weather, with preseason practices shuffled around in the wake of northeasters and Hurricane Earl. Teams are fielding good numbers of athletes, according to Mr. McCarthy, and field hockey, soccer, football, golf and cross-country are ready to meet this season’s opponents (indeed, field hockey and golf already have a combined two wins and a tie under their belts).

“I think everybody’s looking forward to the start of the games,” said Mr. McCarthy, adding with a laugh, “You get sick of pounding your own people.”