As popularity and importance of high school athletics have grown so has the importance of the duties for athletic directors (ADs). This change of importance has led to more studies about experience and characteristics with respect to interscholastic athletic administrators (Stier, 1985). Even though previous studies (e.g., Stier & Schneider, 2000) have defined essential characteristics (e.g., honesty, leadership) for the leaders of interscholastic athletics, research voids still remain in how the ADs perceive the importance rather than the opinions from their superiors. Given the defined characteristics, which are more important than others? Does experience of ADs affect their perceptions about their essential characteristics? The purpose of this study was to explore perceptual differences of their important characteristics among high school ADs whose experiences vary. After receiving approval from the institution review board, a survey through electronic mail was conducted among high school ADs in the state of Michigan. A 21-item essential characteristics questionnaire (Stier & Schneider, 2000) with 5-point likert scale (1 = essential, 5 = irrelevant) was utilized as an instrument to measure differences. The randomly drawn participants (N = 200) were all current ADs in the high school programs and voluntarily completed the survey. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and post hoc Scheffe were applied to examine mean differences of rating importance among junior (1-5 years), intermediate (6-10 years), and senior (more than 10 years) ADs. ANOVAs revealed significant (p < .05) mean differences on the characteristics of ‘Dedication', ‘Helpfulness', and ‘Exhibits a Professional Visual Image' among the three groups. Post hoc Scheffe further explored significant mean differences of rating these three characteristics between junior (Ms = 1.12; 1.40; and 1.28) and intermediate experience group (Ms = 1.46; 1.82; and 1.71). The junior ADs considered these three characteristics as more important than the intermediate experienced ADs did. ANOVA also revealed a significant (p < .05) mean difference on ‘Consistency'. Follow-up Scheffe test determined that the senior ADs (M = 1.07) rated ‘Consistency' more essential than their intermediate colleagues (M = 1.54). The study not only provided quantitative support to the initiative theoretical framework, but also explored experience level as a meaningful variable to differentiate perceptions of essential characteristics for interscholastic ADs. Considering job nature of high school ADs and referring discrepant perceptions of ADs themselves would benefit the school administrators in better evaluation of program heads and future selection of the job candidates. Keyword(s): high school issues, sport management