2013 Dr. Bob Frederick Sport Leadership Lecture Series

written by Pete Van Mullem, Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, ID

(part 1) (part 2)

Five leaders in sport are featured in the final part of a three-issue series of presentations shared by pelinks4u from the Dr. Bob Frederick Sport Leadership Lecture Series. The five sport leaders include the City of Lewiston, Idaho Parks and Recreation Director, Tim Barker; Washington State University Executive Director for University Recreation, Kathleen Hatch; Washington State University Director of Facilities and Finance for University Recreation, Jeff Elbracht; University of Idaho Director of Intramural Sports, Butch Fealy; and University of Idaho Aquatic Manager, Dan Lawson.

City of Lewiston, Idaho Parks and Recreation Director Tim Barker, offered the audience a glimpse into the variety of roles a Parks and Recreation Director fulfills in his presentation entitled Leadership through Community Planning and Development in Sport and Recreation. Joey Miller, a senior in Kinesiology at Lewis-Clark State College stated, "Tim's presentation was very insightful to what it takes to be a director for Parks and Recreation. He demonstrated how much effort is actually involved with the job, and what it takes to get there (education, degree, and experience)."

Tim directs, plans and organizes the operation, maintenance and development of comprehensive departmental divisions including Park Maintenance, Building Maintenance, Golf Course, Cemetery Operations, Recreation Services, Senior Nutrition, Urban Forestry, Aquatic Operations and Administration. An active member of the local community, Tim currently serves on the Lewis-Clark Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Valley Youth Soccer Association Board of Directors. Tim has been recognized professionally for his leadership, being named the New Professional of the Year in 2006 by the Oregon Recreation and Park Association. In 2011, the National Recreation and Park Association named him the Young Professional of the Year.

Assistant Vice President for Campus Life and Executive Director of University Recreation, at Washington State University, Kathleen Hatch shared her experience and travel in sport and recreation. Her discussion focused on how sport is a vehicle for social change. "I found this presentation to be extremely interesting because of the emphasis that was put on campus learning that takes place outside of the classroom," shared Courtney Druffel, a senior in Kinesiology at Lewis-Clark State College (ID).

During her tenure at WSU, Kathleen has been involved in over $140 million campus life facilities including directing the successful opening of the $40 million Student Recreation Center in 2001, and providing leadership to an $86 million renovation project to the student union in 2008. As Executive Director at WSU Kathleen provides leadership and strategic direction to comprehensive programs, services, and recreational facilities with a $12 million annual operating budget. 55 FTE and over 450 student employees. The department is recognized as a key institutional asset for student success, contributing evidence to retention and the likelihood of graduation.

Washington State University Director of Facilities and Finance for University Recreation, Jeff Elbracht enlightened the audience with a personal story of how he discovered leadership opportunities as a student and continued to seek opportunities to grow and develop his career. Bradley Peterson, a senior in Business Administration at Lewis-Clark State College mentioned how Jeff’s presentation made him reflect on his own leadership development stating, "This presentation was an extremely insightful and offered me insight into traits that effective leaders have or strive for."

Jeff supervises the administration of over $50 million dollars of recreation dedicated facilities, and shared recreation facilities including development and revision of all facility policies, operational plans, maintenance and deprecation plans. In addition, he manages and develops budgets totaling approximately $7 million annually. Jeff has served on the University Master Plan development committee and on the University Recreation risk management committee.

University of Idaho Director of Intramural Sports, Butch Fealy’s presentation entitled Building Leaders in Every Major Through Intramural Sport changed the perspective of Treva Moeckli, a sophomore at Lewis-Clark State College majoring in Liberal Arts. Treva stated, "Before the lecture I honestly didn't think that sports had much of a positive impact on academia. But listening to Butch Fealy talk about what skills are actually developed made me seriously reconsider my former opinion and as a non-sport person. I want to join intramural sports."

Since Butch took over as Director of Intramural Sports, students, faculty, and staff at the University of Idaho can now participate in a wide-variety of activities including but not limited to: co-ed floor hockey, billiards, swimming, 3 on3 basketball, badminton, wrestling, basketball, co-rec tennis, golf, co-rec softball, frisbee golf, kickball, dodge ball, and volleyball. Butch also directs special events and programs for students and the campus community and has direct involvement in the development of policies, services, and programs related to campus recreational activities.

With over 40 years of experience in aquatic management, University of Idaho Aquatic Manager Dan Lawson shared his passion and enthusiasm for managing a dynamic environment with an emphasis on working with multiple user groups and continuing to learn as a leader. "Lawson's hands-on approach completely inspired me. He decided from the beginning that there were certain ways that he wanted to conduct his business. I appreciate that through this process he stayed true to every one of them," shared Dayna Huibregtse, a junior majoring in Business at Lewis-Clark State College.

Dan Lawson's career in aquatics spans over 40 years. During that time span he has managed aquatic facilities, coached every level of amateur swimming, and developed swim programs. His passion for teaching and coaching in addition to an appreciation for the aquatic profession drives his leadership philosophy. Lawson came to Idaho familiar with the process of program building after he founded a swim academy in 2000 at St. Stephen's Episcopal School at Austin, Texas and established a comprehensive swimming program for the International Olympic Committee in St. Lucia.

Learn more about the Dr. Bob Frederick Sport Leadership Lecture Series.

For more information regarding the lecture series please contact:
Pete Van Mullem, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Sport Administration
"Peter W. Van Mullem" <pwvanmullem@lcsc.edu>

Biography: Dr. Pete Van Mullem is an Assistant Professor in Athletic Administration at Central Washington University. He has a Ph.D. in Sport Ethics from the University of Idaho and has over 14 years of coaching and athletic administrative experience at the high school and collegiate level.

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