10-Year Celebration: UMAC Commissioner Challenge
By Sara Quinnell, UMAC Assistant Commissioner
JUMP TO: Q&A with Commissioner Corey Borchardt | 10 Takeaways from Commissioner Borchardt |
I started working as Assistant Commissioner of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) just over three years ago, which was definitely a departure from working in a campus athletics department for most of my career. The first question I used to get when I said I worked an athletics department was this: “Oh, so you’re a coach?” No. The questions and responses that I get from people now when I tell them I work in a NCAA Division III conference office – or try to explain what I do – usually sound something like this: “So what does that mean? Do you watch a lot of sports? That sounds really fun!”
Depending on someone’s level of understanding of sports in general, my response is somewhat different. For those who have a little more knowledge of how intercollegiate athletics works, I usually indicate I’m responsible for athletics communications and helping with championships and a lot of other “stuff.” For those with less knowledge, I tell them I work for a conference, kind of like the Big Ten, except without the money, television contracts, future professional athletes and an exorbitant amount of staff, among other things.
My response really doesn’t give conference office staff much credit, though, for what we do. While we often feel appreciated by our membership, I am still somewhat surprised to find out the level of understanding our direct campus constituents have of how the conference works and what conference staff actually does on a daily basis.
We know that we aren’t sitting behind a computer making decisions in a vacuum that impact the livelihood of our coaches or change the course of a student-athlete’s collegiate career. That doesn’t mean, though, that people don’t perceive us that way. The biggest concern I have about this is that student-athletes often don’t know how a conference works, what we do or how the membership makes decisions – and they’re the ones who are supposed to be most impacted by the work of a conference.
So, how do you change the narrative and help people understand the value of a conference at the Division III level? How can you educate student-athletes and help them better understand how the conference office can enhance their experience as a collegiate athlete and that our staff is here to support them?
The answer – host the UMAC Commissioner Challenge, of course. Wait, do what?
Let me take a step back – Corey Borchardt has been the first-and-only commissioner of the UMAC since it became a Division III member league in 2008. He’s been instrumental in getting the conference off the ground and helping its growth over the last decade.
In just over three years of working with Corey, I’ve seen firsthand that he is easily one of the most engaged, passionate and driven commissioners in Division III. Sure, that sounds bias, and it is. However, Corey is innovative in his leadership and desire to help our conference strive for excellence in every facet of its being in order to enhance the opportunities and experiences we provide for our student-athletes.
Our membership has undergone significant changes in the last 11 years, and that is much credit to Corey’s dedication to doing his job 100 percent every single day. As part of the development of the UMAC, Corey has pushed the conference to make decisions with our mission and core values at the center to ensure that everything we do comes back to serving our student-athletes in the best way possible.
Leading a conference to do just that isn’t easy when your membership is as diverse as ours. Corey constantly strives to find new ways to approach challenges and encourages our members to push themselves to contribute to collective membership growth. He’s worked to create a synergy among our coaches and administrators by engaging them in all areas of conference governance and providing unique opportunities to engage one another on a professional and personal level – just ask our athletics directors about the time he orchestrated a salsa-making competition at a leadership retreat.
In trying to develop consensus, Corey is challenged with guiding the membership in difficult decision-making that could often have a significant impact – positive or negative – on the lived experience of our student-athletes. In the heat of those discussions, an observer could often hear a coach or administrator say something like, “That’s not good for our student-athletes,” or “our student-athletes can’t miss any more class time, ” or “our student-athletes would not support this.”
But is that really true? Is that actually how student-athletes would feel about missing class time to participate in the conference tournament? Did you ask them how they feel about playing mid-week games? Would they really rather have a speaker come talk to them after a championship meet instead of getting ice cream?
Last summer when we started developing concepts for our “10-Year Celebration” to commemorate our first decade in Division III, Corey indicated that he had an idea that would help us get at the heart of this aforementioned issue regarding what student-athletes actually think or want from of the conference.
Pause – Corey is an out-of-the-box, creative thinker. He loves leadership lessons and books and constantly comes up with new ideas for staff development and team-building. I can definitely appreciate his zest and approach to leading the UMAC. Over the years, though, I’ve learned to pause and take a deep breath when he says that he has an idea, because I never quite know what is coming.
I had a feeling this idea, though, was going to be a something potentially crazy. His idea – he was going to practice with one men’s team and one women’s team at each of our institutions covering all of our sports over the next year.
Pause – one thing to note about Corey, he isn’t really built like a football lineman or post player or shot putter. The thought of him practicing with one of our football teams and getting tackled was absolutely terrifying to say the least. I was definitely glad that we had just increased our conference insurance policy coverage.
Corey explained he got the concept from a Division I conference, the Colonial Athletic Association. Commissioner Joe D’Antonio spent an entire year practicing with the CAA regular season champions from the 2016-17 season as a way to better interact with student-athletes and thank them for their dedication to being a Division I student-athlete.
Corey went on to share that he wanted to take the opportunity to meet student-athletes where they are at and get on their level by practicing with them. He then felt that would allow for more candid and honest dialogue about their experience as student-athletes. His vision was to practice with a team and then ask them questions following the practice, as well as allow them the opportunity to ask questions and get to learn about the UMAC and what the conference does.
In the conference office, our only real interaction with student-athletes is either at a conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) meeting twice a year where we’re spewing a ton of information at the attendees and asking a ton of questions in a more formal setting, or at a championship when we’re handing out a trophies and t-shirts or overseeing the administration of the event. This doesn’t provide much opportunity for communication or genuine dialogue between the student-athletes and the conference.
Hence, the Commissioner Challenge was born. Corey further developed the concept and began to map out all of the teams and schools he would visit throughout the year. Coaches were extremely receptive and excited. I’m sure most of them also thought he was a bit nuts.
From the outset, Corey knew the Commissioner Challenge was indeed going to be a challenge, but he definitely isn’t the type of person to back down to a challenge. Also, a lifelong athlete and sports connoisseur, Corey felt he was ready to take on the physical demands of the Challenge, as well as some of the sure-fire moments that may provide a bit of entertainment to fans and followers of the UMAC.
The first visit for “the Commish” was to Crown College for back-to-back practices with the women’s cross country team and the men’s soccer team. Coach Bill Braunger went “easy” on Corey starting with a 40-minute “recovery” run before partaking in hurdle drills on a warm September afternoon. Following the first opening discussion session with the cross country student-athletes, Corey got a short break before jumping right into conditioning and full game-simulation drills with the Storm men’s soccer team.
I left the men’s soccer practice before the discussion session with the student-athletes. The next day, Corey shared that the student-athletes asked a lot of insightful and challenging questions. He said the session went on for nearly an hour and they had to cut off questions. From the very beginning, it was clear that the Commissioner Challenge was going to be more than just “practice.”
The next practice I joined Corey for was football with Martin Luther College in mid-October as the Knights remained undefeated in UMAC action late in the season. At that point, I was really struggling with my “why.”
Pause – Corey is big on reflecting back to your “why” on a regular basis. “Why do you want to do this?” Your “why” is what motivates you, keeps you going and is the ultimate driving factor behind the work that you do. I’ve always thought my “why” was to serve student-athletes and provide them with the type of experience I cherished as a former Division III student-athlete. The “why” can sometimes get lost, though, in demands of long hours and travel and dealing with challenging situations on a regular basis in our roles. It’s also harder to keep in perspective when you work in a conference and lack consistent interaction with student-athletes.
Back to Martin Luther – some of my favorite moments from the year came at this practice. One student-athlete made Corey a gift and gave it to him. It was some kind of drawing on bright orange paper. Later, Corey got a huge roar of excitement from the team when he jumped into full practice, received a play in the huddle, perfectly executed his route and made a solid catch on the move. Later that night I sent him the video clip of the catch because he didn’t think his kids would believe him without video evidence.
By far, though, my favorite moment of the night was under the setting sun in the bug-filled “bowl” at MLC when the student-athletes asked some truly insightful questions. One player asked about officiating oversight – yikes, I was not sure how Corey might tackle this one. This question demonstrated a genuine interest in how decisions are made. Corey flawlessly responded and used it as an opportunity to share information about how conferences employ coordinators of officials and the procedures and processes that are in place. He provided information about officiating at a national level and the current officiating crisis that we’re facing. There was genuine engagement, interest and appreciation from the student-athletes.
In that moment, as Corey joined the huddle for a final team cheer, I realized that my “why” was still the same as it always has been, but this experience helped me realize that my “why” is important and what we do in the conference is important. Oh, and that we have some really phenomenal student-athletes in the UMAC.
Over the year, Corey participated in 15 of his planned 18 practices involving 21 teams, as some practices had both men’s and women’s teams practicing together (i.e. tennis, track and field) which allowed for engagement of even more student-athletes. The remaining three were canceled – and some rescheduled multiple times and canceled again – due to inclement weather. Imagine that, weather issues in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Travel and participation in all of these practices definitely took Corey away from the office, but I think he would say it was well worth the additional time, sore muscles and lost hours of sleep.
Each practice and interaction with the student-athletes was different. However, each one yielded insights for Corey that he would bring back and share with our staff to consider for implementing change or putting on the shelf as ideas for the future.
Some of the feedback from the student-athletes was pretty simple and gave us immediate ideas for ways we could enhance the championship experience. One group of student-athletes said that they would love to have Gatorade in the locker room for the UMAC tournament. We delivered – Gatorade was purchased and provided in locker rooms several weeks later at the conference basketball tournaments.
Other questions and responses from student-athletes affirmed where our conference is at and some of the challenges that our membership will continue to face heading into our next decade. One group of student-athletes asked Corey about the conference’s steps to help some UMAC teams become more competitive. Not only is this a very insightful observation for student-athletes, but it is a core issue that our administrators want to tackle as we embark on our next strategic plan this summer.
The feedback was candid, honest and genuine, which isn’t something that you always get from student-athletes sitting around a table at a conference SAAC meeting talking about NCAA legislative proposals that sometimes create more confusion and questions for student-athletes.
The interactions that Corey had with the student-athletes were gained only by developing trust and respect by showing an appreciation and understanding for what they do every day as student-athletes in the practice setting. By showing up for them, Corey demonstrated that “the UMAC” isn’t just a guy sitting behind a desk making decisions about schedules and championships. The UMAC is so much more – the UMAC is about conference leaders and administrators who care deeply about the experience of our student-athletes, and who are willing to do whatever they reasonably can to ensure these young people leave our campuses and go out into the world and make a difference because of what they gained as collegiate athletes.
So, was the Commissioner Challenge worth it? There certainly were a lot of good memories and laughs from seeing videos of Corey attempt to throw a hammer – probably his biggest struggle all year – or finally getting to throw a javelin, or spike a volleyball wearing a t-shirt that says, “Love Thy Teammate.”
The Commissioner Challenge not only confirmed my “why,” but I know it also reaffirmed Corey’s “why” and will spark more great ideas for him as he begins the demanding work of taking our conference to the next level. I also hope that it helps UMAC administrators, staff and student-athletes better understand their “why.”
The impact our student-athletes had on our staff during this experience is worth far more than any of the laughs we’ll take away, and I know that every ounce of extra time and energy spent on this initiative over the last nine months was well worth it. I’m honored to have witnessed this, and feel even more fortunate to be part of this conference and everything it stands for.
Below is my question and answer with “the Commish” himself about the Commissioner Challenge:
SQ: What did you hope to gain, learn or experience going into the Commissioner Challenge? What were your key goals or outcomes?
CB: Besides trying to stay alive through some of the practices, I had two primary goals. The first was to make sure I was able to hear what the student-athlete experience was like for all our member campuses and to hear directly from the student-athletes describing their experiences, positives and challenges, to hear direct from them what that experience is like. The second was to collect some ideas on how we could enhance our championships at the conference level, how we could do some things differently from a conference operations standpoint that would be viewed more positively by our student-athletes. We were able to do those two things and able to do so from a wide number of student-athletes.
SQ: How were the interactions with student-athletes during the Commissioner Challenge different than the ways you typically engage with student-athletes? Why was this format beneficial?
CB: Typically when we interact with student-athletes in a formal meeting setting, it’s in a board room and the attire is suit and tie and dresses, and it’s much more formal. This provided a great opportunity to really connect with student-athletes on their turf, field or court. By doing so, they were more comfortable, more willing to be candid and really give some great insight and perspective when I crossed that bridge and participated with them in a setting where they’re much more comfortable.
SQ: How did the outcomes and experiences match your expectations going in? What was most surprising or eye-opening about the experience?
CB: Overall, the experience more than exceeded the expectations and really turned out more positive than I could have imagined. The interaction with the student-athletes was just fantastic. The quality of the student-athletes that we have in the UMAC – engaging with them was just rewarding and refreshing. So, it certainly hit the target and then some in that regard.
In terms of what was surprising, I really didn’t expect the number of fantastic questions that the student-athletes had. They had terrific questions, and many of the practices we had more time where they asked the questions instead of me asking them. We spent more time with them getting a chance to fire away with questions they had about the conference, how we operate, why we do certain things, where we see the conference going. So, in that way, I wasn’t fully expecting just the degree that they wanted to engage and ask questions from their view.
SQ: What was the most valuable part of the experience for you?
I think it was just rewarding to be out of an office. Often times as administrators, and maybe more so in the conference office than an institution or campus setting where you do get to engage with student-athletes still very frequently, we get trapped in our office and that becomes our only perspective or lens that we look through. So, it was great to just engage with them in that type of setting and be able to not just hear from them but then ask questions back and engage with them in extended dialogue and take some ideas and concepts further in that type of a setting where they are very comfortable to share a lot of great insight that can help us as administrators.
SQ: What was the most enjoyable part of the experience for you?
CB: From an activities standpoint, it would be hard narrow that down. Certainly throwing the javelin was fun and on that long list of things you hope to do someday in life, and I got to check that off the list. So, that was fantastic. I think one of the best parts was just hearing the student-athletes’ hopes, their dreams, their plans, what they hope to do when their experience is done at the campus they’re at. Just getting a sense of what they hope to obtain and accomplish in their lives was really rewarding and inspiring and was a great reminder to help us as administrators reinforce our small part that we get to have in hopefully positioning them for success ahead.
SQ: What is one particular moment or interaction that really stands out for you? Why?
CB: Perhaps on the sports bloopers or epic fail category, I’m not sure me throwing the hammer or a shot put is film that a coach would want to show anyone on how to do it. That certainly stands out, and I have a greater respect and appreciation for our student-athletes that do those track and field events.
What stands out is just how many practices we had to cut off the sessions just for the sake of time. Student-athletes kept asking questions that were insightful and led to other questions and a great dialogue. Just the amount of times that we could have kept going for another hour with how interested the athletes were stands out to me and I certainly appreciate it.
SQ: How do you think the experience will impact you and your work leading the conference into its next decade as a Division III member conference?
CB: As a starting point, it was rejuvenating. It helped reinvigorate, reinforce, and remind me why I chose to get into this field, and why we as administrators do what we do. From that standpoint, it certainly helps relight a fire and a passion to keep trying to help our conference move forward and obtain new levels of success.
From an operational standpoint, it will help. (There were) some fantastic ideas that we had from student-athletes, some ideas that we can vet and develop further as far as enhancing our student-athlete experience and improving our conference tournament and championship experience. So, (there are) certainly some ideas that we’ll take from this and look at implementing in years to come.
Lastly, just hearing some of the themes and the common positives affirm that we should continue to make sure that at our campuses we are upholding those, but also (there are) some challenges at all of our campuses that came through that, from an administrative standpoint, we will certainly talk about in years to come and in meetings to come – how do we start to tackle some of those challenges? How can we address those?
So, I think there’s an incredible number of outcomes from this experience that will help our conference in the next decade to move forward and continue to try and carve our niche in Division III athletics.
And finally, I present to you:
10 Takeways from Corey Borchardt on his Commissioner Challenge experience:
- A “recovery day” and workout for a cross country team really should be labeled differently. That is not an accurate description for everyone.
- Catching a high-trajectory football punt when you can literally hear the defenders closing in on you quickly helps one learn to trust their blocking teammates and to trust the pads and equipment. I felt like a bobble head with a helmet.
- Soccer players don’t really care who the goalkeeper is standing in the goal if they have a breakaway opportunity. It still hurts.
- If the “circuits” done in basketball practice were the circuits done the day after a game (what happened to the day after a game being for film review?), I have made a mental note to try and avoid the circuits that are done in pre-season or in a regular practice. The blisters did heal eventually.
- Don’t ever question the athletic ability or skills of those that legitimately can do the hammer throw and weight throw. My head still hurts from trying to get the footwork down…or maybe from drilling my own head in practice with the hammer. Ice, please.
- When faced with a choice of working further on long jumping form or doing more 800-meter “cool downs,” I’ll take the dirt and try to jump a little further. I needed another “cool down” after the “cool down” to recover.
- Playing infield in softball when playing “up” to prevent a run from scoring truly does impact one’s life expectancy, or at least stress level and insurance ratings. Don’t hit it to me. Don’t hit it to me. Don’t hit it to me.
- Nobody was injured nor did I break any equipment practicing discus and javelin. Let’s just call that a win.
- If you have the option to sit out a tennis drill that works on making “aggressive decisions at the net,” it may not be a bad idea to sit that one out. Did you know tennis balls can still leave a mark through three layers of clothes?
- The “brief” sit-up workout with distance runners helped me remember I don’t have a six-pack (and never did). When attempting to sit up the next morning in bed, I quickly remembered the “brief” sit-up workout I survived. I think I remembered it for a few days every time I moved.
UMAC “10-Year Celebration” website