Head of Boys & Girls Clubs of York County leaving

David Carriker is leaving the Boys & Girls Clubs of York County to become the executive director of the Brigade Boys & Girls Club in Wilmington, N.C.

Carriker has been the York County clubs’ executive director for four years, expanding membership 250 children to more than 1,000.

During Carriker’s tenure, the York County clubs have opened teen centers in Clover, Rock Hill and the Catawba Indian Reservation, increasing the number of teen participants at a time when teen enrollment is dropping nationally.

Carriker, 57, said he is most proud of how the community has responded to the York County clubs’ needs. “The community worked as hard as we did,” he said Thursday.

Carriker also praised his staff.

His approach to work is often from a coach’s perspective, finding the strengths and weaknesses in his team and pairing people with opposite skills to get the best from both.

Carrier said his job was to set the vision, give his staff the opportunity to excel and then stand back, “left them shine and blossom, remarkable things happen. You get out of the way of good people.”

Todd Lumpkin, chairman of the York County clubs’ board of directors, said Carriker was “the right guy at the right time,” when he was hired in 2011.

Carriker came to Rock Hill from Atlanta, where he was a regional vice president of the Boys & Girls Clubs. Carriker said he came to Rock Hill to be closer to family in Charlotte.

“David’s consistently upbeat disposition and focus on delivering for our kids were exactly what we needed at a time when state funding quickly evaporated and we were really doing some soul searching regarding our viability,” Lumpkin said.

Lumpkin said a search for Carriker’s replacement has begun and the board expects to fill the position quickly.

Carriker has one more week in York County before moving to Wilmington, which approached him about the job. The Brigade Boys & Girls Club serves about 2,000 children in three counties, he said. “They needed someone who can do the stuff I do best,” Carriker said, “visioning, working with the community, finding the people in the community who are passionate.”

Making a personal investment in the community makes it harder to leave, Carriker said.

“You can keep your distance, leave and you don’t miss people,” he said. “Or you can get involved, get close to people, be part of the fabric of things.”

When you leave under these circumstances, it’s bittersweet, he said, knowing how much you will miss the people you leave.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Head of Boys & Girls Clubs of York County leaving."