35|35 #6: A Unique Conference Connection
Camie Bechtold (QU/SJC/GLVC) & Angela Red (UMSL/GLVC/MCK)
Jeff Smith, Assistant Commissioner
35|35 Anniversary Website
This is the sixth installment of a series of 35 moments, milestones, and facts that will be featured throughout the 2013-14 academic year to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
In June of 2011, a former Great Lakes Valley Conference administrator was featured as a guest speaker at the league’s first-ever Aspire Summit – a professional development workshop for female administrators and coaches within the conference. One of those aspiring professionals in attendance had just joined a member school after finishing up an internship with the league office.
That was the day Camie Bechtold met Angela Red. Little did they know in that brief conversation how much they had in common and what a unique conference connection they shared.
In the 35-year history of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, Bechtold and Red hold the distinction as the only two people to have ever competed as a GLVC student-athlete, served as an administrator at one of the conference’s member schools, and worked as an employee of the league office.
Not to mention they both credit their former GLVC head coach for inspiring them to pursue a professional career in athletics administration with an emphasis in compliance.
Bechtold played just one year in the GLVC, but is widely regarded, along with her twin sister Carrie, as one of the most influential women’s soccer players in Quincy University history. Bechtold finished her career as the 1994-95 College Sports Female Division II Athlete of the Year, a second-team National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American, an All-America Scholar-Athlete selection, and a member of two NCAA Championship National Semifinalist squads.
As for Red, she starred on the pitch at the University of Missouri-St. Louis where she was a team captain and a four-time Academic All-GLVC honoree. And while Red credits the long practices and even longer bus rides as some of her fondest memories, it was her conversations with head coach Beth Goetz away from the field that put her on the path to where she is today.
“Coach Goetz also served as an athletics administrator (at UMSL) and from talking with her and seeing what she did on a daily basis, I realized that I wanted to pursue working in college athletics administration,” Red recalled.
Bill Postiglione, who served as head coach at Quincy from 1983 to 2005, had the same effect on Bechtold.
“When I graduated, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life,” Bechtold said. “I knew I loved the college environment and I loved the game of soccer. During the end of my senior year, I was offered a position as the director of grants and resources in the development office at Quincy. At the same time, Doc (to which Postiglione was affectionately referred) was gracious enough to allow me to be an assistant coach with the team. It was a great opportunity right out of college to stay at an institution that I loved and stay around the game.”
After working at Quincy for nearly two years following her graduation, Bechtold remained within the GLVC footprint and took the position as the assistant director of career services at Saint Joseph’s College in October of 1997. During her two-year stint in that position, where she helped place Saint Joseph’s graduates in the workplace and also had time to earn her Master’s degree from Purdue University, she stayed connected with soccer by volunteering as an assistant coach for the Pumas’ women’s team. In 1999, Bechtold was moved over to the SJC athletics department as the associate athletics director for compliance and promoted to head women’s soccer coach as well.
In her administrative position at Saint Joseph’s, Bechtold was able to attend official conference meetings and it was in 2001 that she learned that the GLVC was looking to hire its first assistant commissioner to oversee compliance. It was around the same time that she realized that she would rather oversee recruiting and compliance efforts from a broader scope than simply be in charge of doing it for just one team as a coach.
“I knew that I did not want to coach forever,” said Bechtold. “Administration was the route for me to go. This position would allow me to gain further experience in the field and challenge me with new types of responsibility.”
With interest in the position at the conference office, Bechtold was lucky enough to have already had a direct connection with the GLVC administration, which at that time was a staff of one. Jim Naumovich, who was Quincy’s athletics director from 1992 to 2000, had been hired away from campus to serve in the role of GLVC Commissioner – a position in which he has held for 14 years. Interestingly enough, when Naumovich was leading Quincy through its application process for GLVC membership in 1994, he asked the Bechtold sisters to serve as campus tour guides for conference officials when they arrived for their official site visit.
Ultimately, it was Bechtold’s prior compliance background at Saint Joseph’s that led to the search committee officially recommending her hiring as associate commissioner.
“By moving to the conference office, I learned how 11 different schools approached issues and problems, and I got more of a global picture of collegiate athletics,” said Bechtold. “It was a valuable and unforgettable experience, especially at that time in my career. I enjoyed learning from some pioneers of collegiate athletics and had some really strong role models who were practicing at GLVC schools.”
Red’s path followed a similar path to that of Bechtold’s. Following her career at UMSL, Red completed her Master’s degree in sports management at SIU-Edwardsville. During that time she explored employment opportunities and found out about an internship offered through the GLVC.
“I just felt it would be great experience to have,” said Red, who graduated from SIUE in May 2010 and began her 10-month stint with the conference office two months later. “At the GLVC, I was able to able to learn and work in a variety of areas including sports information, compliance, championships, and SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee). I was also able to network and build relationships with athletic directors, faculty athletic representatives, and senior woman administrators at the member institutions.”
During her internship, Red accompanied the GLVC staff to McKendree University as the Bearcats had made application to move from NAIA to NCAA Division II as a member of the GLVC. She also attended conference meetings when McKendree representatives were present. As an intern, these were somewhat of informative meetings for Red, although she used both opportunities to learn more about the institution and its administration by networking with key members of the athletics staff during breaks and dinner receptions.
“In January, I was told that McKendree was looking at hiring someone for an assistant director of athletics to oversee compliance,” Red recalled. “I thought that this would be invaluable experience to gain as McKendree was going through the reclassification process, and it was located in an area that I knew well. The job was then posted in February, I went through the interview process, and was hired in May 2011.”
There is an understanding, especially when one earns the first full-time job of his or her career, that there are long hours and a great deal of work ahead. McKendree’s reclassification process was a lengthy one, and a stressful one for a budding compliance director that not only had to instantly learn NCAA Division II policies and reclassifying procedures, but also have an understanding of the policies and procedures McKendree followed in NAIA and how to educate the coaches and student-athletes on the school’s new direction moving forward.
Ultimately, it was Red’s well-rounded experience that helped both her and the university through this stressful time.
“I shared my experiences as a student-athlete, advice that I received from others within the career field, information that I had researched, as well as my experiences while at the conference office to help further enhance McKendree,” she said. “The reclassification process was a long one, but to finally hear that we were accepted as an active Division II member institution was a relief. The hard work and long hours that were put in by everyone had finally paid off in every way. Not only knowing that we were Division II, but also being a part of the GLVC was something that the administration, staff, and student-athletes were – and still are – very proud of.”
Since gaining full active membership this past July, McKendree has now designated Red as its senior woman administrator, meaning she now gets one of the university’s three seats at the table when conference members convene for annual fall, winter and spring meetings.
When once there was a time where Naumovich notified Red that one of her many intern responsibilities would be to design table tents for all administrators at league meetings, now she can proudly walk in the room and appreciate they have already been made… including one for her.
“To know that I have been able to accomplish my dreams of working in college athletics is fantastic, but I have a lot of pride (in knowing) my experiences came within the GLVC,” she said. “I have a lot of pride in knowing that I was able to go through the different paths of the GLVC. McKendree and the GLVC are all about providing a great experience to its student-athletes, and to help contribute to that cause is something that I thoroughly enjoy every day, especially knowing that at one time I used to be one of them.”
It’s that same drive and desire to serve the student-athlete that has brought Bechtold back to campus. After nearly four years in the league office, Bechtold left in March of 2005 to become (now senior) associate athletics director for student and compliance services at Montana State University, a position in which she also serves as senior woman administrator.
“It was the draw of the collegiate environment,” Bechtold said. “The conference office is one step removed from the student-athletes and I just realized I wanted to be closer to them and to the ‘campus’ environment.”
Having now been back on campus for the better half of a decade, Bechtold is quick to point out that her experiences as a GLVC student-athlete, coach and conference administrator have helped shape who she is as both a professional and a person. In fact, she shares her journey with all the student-athletes at Montana State with whom she comes in contact on a daily basis.
“I truly value the relationships and skills I built during my time in the GLVC,” she said. “The GLVC is not only a place in time for me; it is engrained in my being and my everyday actions.”
Throughout the years, the common denominator between the two has been Naumovich, who was responsible for both hires at the conference office.
“Camie Bechtold and Angela Red are both extremely talented individuals who hold a unique designation in the 35-year history of the GLVC,” Naumovich said. “Both Camie and Angela exhibited great resolve, tremendous work ethic, and possessed engaging personalities, which served them extremely well while working for the GLVC membership. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with both of these talented and committed professionals, and feel fortunate to call them both friends.”
It’s a long way from McKendree to Montana, but rest assured the next chance meeting between Bechtold and Red will likely result in a longer conversation about their respective career paths and their time spent in the GLVC.
At all levels.