35|35 Anniversary Website
This is the 16th 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 the 14 years Jim Naumovich has served as Commissioner of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, there has been only one instance where he has doubted taking the job of leading one of the premier NCAA Division II conferences. His tenure is nearing 4,900 days at the helm and just one of those gave him reason to think about looking elsewhere. That one day was Labor Day 2000 – his first day on the job.
Naumovich entered the fifth-floor, four-room suite in Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis, Ind., and reported to his office while trying not to disrupt the work of others. The GLVC has full residency of that same suite today, but Naumovich occupied just one of those offices while the rest was leased to the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness.
There were stacks of files and unpaid bills on his desk that had accumulated since former GLVC Commissioner Carl McAloose resigned to become the athletics director at Florida Gulf Coast University that May. There were no instructions on how to set up the voicemail or e-mail, nor was there any kind of internal IT person to assist, which left an “IT void” that Naumovich said is “still a part of his DNA today.”
The GLVC was a staff of one, and in just a matter of weeks, the league membership was set to convene for its annual fall meeting.
God help him.
In all actuality, maybe He did.
That first-day blank stare out his office window might have connected directly with historic St. John Catholic Church, and coupled with his good-standing departure after 15 years at Catholic-based Quincy University, the last eight of which were as athletics director, it’s likely he found the motivation he needed.
Naumovich and his wife Carolyn had always felt that they would be “lifers” in the Quincy community, but a change in campus leadership had him exploring other opportunities. After traveling with the Hawks’ baseball team for a weekend series at Northern Kentucky and Indianapolis, Naumovich learned through an informal sit-down talk with McAloose that the sitting Commissioner was expecting to move on. Months later at the 2000 GLVC Awards Banquet, when a guest speaker bailed on McAloose at the last minute, Naumovich stepped in and delivered a few one-liners that drew some laughs from the membership
(note: verify source, re: laughter). Ultimately, it was his credentials
and personality that made him the perfect candidate to become the fifth Commissioner in conference history.
For the next year, Naumovich was a one-man band, both figuratively and literally.
He’s been known to use his desk as a percussion instrument while singing his favorite ‘70s tune in any octave.
In 2001, Naumovich received permission from the Council of Presidents to hire the conference’s first full-time assistant commissioner. While other Division II conferences stressed the importance of sports information, the GLVC is believed to be the only league to have hired a full-time compliance person first.
Camie Bechtold, who was
highlighted in a previous 35|35 feature and recently announced as a GLVC Hall of Fame Inductee for the Class of 2014, was hired from Saint Joseph’s College as the conference’s second full-time employee.
“Hiring Camie Bechtold was a significant milestone for the GLVC because she was exactly the right person to develop not only a new position for the league but also within the framework of Division II league offices around the country,” said Naumovich.” Our league members had great faith and trust in Camie and the oversight that the conference office took on with NCAA rules compliance following her hire. I think the league displayed great foresight in funding a compliance position as the second full-time employee for the conference office.”
During this time, sports information duties were divided among a handful of veteran sports information directors on member campuses. When the league went through a
major expansion period in 2004 where membership grew from 11 to 14 schools, the addition of more schools and more sports meant more time needed to dedicate to covering the league seasons. That was time campus SIDs did not have to spare.
“When the league expanded to 14 schools, it was imperative for the league to consolidate all sports information, media relations, and awards responsibilities in the conference office,” Naumovich said. “Our single sport SIDs could no longer be expected to make such a significant investment of time and effort on conference duties when their responsibilities on campus continued to expand. Furthermore, we needed to establish a consistent means of disseminating information, compiling statistics, and coordinating awards as we continued to evolve as a full-service conference office.”
Enter Tom Daeger, a former UIndy baseball player hired in 2006 to relieve the stresses being placed on the league’s SIDs. The 1996 GLVC Freshman of the Year and later an All-Conference honoree who guided the Greyhounds to the 2000 Division II World Series, was hired as GLVC Sports Information Director – the third full-time position.
“It was tremendously exciting to have the opportunity to work with Jim and the GLVC as the first full-time Sports Information Director,” Daeger said. “It was a league I knew well and had continued to follow closely following my graduation. I am forever grateful to Jim for providing me the unique challenge and chance to work for the league in which I already had so many positive experiences. The new position provided the ability to continue to develop new initiatives to highlight the successes of the league’s student-athletes, teams and administrations.”
Known affectionately to some in the league as “Tommy Tiebreak” for his detailed work with tiebreak scenarios for certain sports, Daeger was widely lauded for his work ethic and commitment to the conference.
“He endeared himself to the membership because of his tireless efforts to promote the league and our member schools,” said Naumovich. “Tommy’s day didn’t end when he left the office. He was consistently locked into numerous projects and the more he did the more that was expected of him.”
While Daeger was settling into his position, the league had seen some turnover in the compliance position as Bechtold resigned in 2005 to return to campus administration at Montana State. Katie Willett was hired for the compliance role and stayed until 2006, while Amanda Conklin served in the position from 2006-08. Both Willett and Conklin left for positions at the nearby NCAA Headquarters.
Daeger had already been elevated to Assistant Commissioner for Communications around this time, but following Conklin’s departure, he volunteered to take on additional responsibilities, some of which were compliance related. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to Associate Commissioner for Media Relations and Championships.
“(Tommy) knew he wanted the opportunity to become a Commissioner at some point in his career so when Amanda resigned, he stepped up and took on additional responsibilities which ultimately enhanced his experience in compliance,” Naumovich said. “He truly embraced the ‘all hands on deck’ mentality of working in the conference office and those varied experiences afforded him the opportunity to be prepared to accept his dream offer.”
In December 2011, Daeger resigned to become the first-ever Commissioner of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
“I am grateful that the ability to grow as an administrator was something that was encouraged by the league and certainly contributed to the ability to pursue my current position with the Great Midwest Athletic Conference,” Daeger said. “The professional progression the GLVC has awarded so many league staff members has certainly provided the opportunity for many individuals to pursue their career goals. The number of administrators that continue to work in collegiate athletics is a testament to the environment Jim and the league has cultivated for their staff.”
The 2012 calendar year proved to be a shift toward stability in the GLVC staff as the communications and compliance roles would be filled, while another position was created with an emphasis on championships and marketing.
In January of 2012, former Big Ten Conference communications staffer Jeff Smith was hired as the league’s new Assistant Commissioner for Communications. Later that fall, Tonya Charland was hired from GLVC member Maryville University as the Assistant Commissioner for Compliance, as two more individuals – Wispeny Ellis (2008-11) and Erin Hiltner (2011-12) – had left the league’s top compliance role to return to campus.
A few months prior to Charland’s hire, Camelia Trahan was announced as the league’s first-ever Assistant Commissioner for Championships and Marketing. The new position was tied directly to the expansion the conference had seen during Naumovich’s tenure, which included a surge from 11 to 16 members as well as the addition of five sports: men’s and women’s indoor track and field (2000), football (2013), and men’s and women’s swimming and diving (2013-14).
The new position was funded through the NCAA Strategic Alliance Grant the GLVC received and supported by the four-employee conference office model document approved by the GLVC Council of Presidents.
“When the league expanded to 16 schools and 20 championships it was important to expand conference office staffing to meet the additional needs of one of the largest conferences in Division II,” Naumovich said. “We are a membership driven, service-oriented office with direct responsibility to all of our schools. In addition to championships and marketing, this position was created to also assume some of the sports information and media relations responsibilities for the league’s 20 sports.”
On top of the four full-time positions, the GLVC has also been able to use funds from the NCAA Conference Grant to support one 10-month internship in each of the past six years. While each intern has gained experience in areas such as compliance, sports information and championships, including awards and apparel, they have been able to provide valuable insight back to the league.
“We have been blessed to secure the time and talent of six outstanding full-time interns and proud to boast that all of them were former GLVC student-athletes,” said Naumovich. “All of these individuals have provided us with great insight as former student-athletes to assist the staff in our efforts to enhance conference championships and other events.”
Former Lewis University cross country and track and field standout Teresa Dexl was the league’s intern during the 2008-09 academic year and was followed by Flyer softball player Jessica Beck in 2009-10. Angela Red, who captained the University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s soccer team, became the conference intern in 2010-11 prior to earning a full-time role at league member McKendree University. Red was featured in the same 35|35 series as Bechtold was in the link above. William Jewell College tennis star Nikki Chambers served as intern from 2011-12, followed by University of Illinois Springfield softball and volleyball standout Jessica Yocum in 2012-13 and former University of Wisconsin-Parkside basketball player Amy Selk in 2013-14.
“We take great pride with the opportunities we provide our interns and their ability to accept these challenges,” said Naumovich. “We derive our greatest satisfaction from the close relationships that we have developed with all of our interns during their tenure in the conference office and take great pride when we see them advance in their professional career.”
Regardless of whether he is working with the league’s full-time staff, its interns, or any position on campus ranging from president to student-athlete, Naumovich said the common denominator over the past 14 years has been being associated with people he really enjoys being around.
And who can blame him? He started off on this journey alone in a random office in another company’s suite.
“I am blessed to do what I do,” Naumovich said. “I consider my position as Commissioner to be an opportunity to serve and lead, and not so much a job.”
Which makes sense, seeing that in 14 years, only once has it ever felt like one.