COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and USOPC Collegiate Advisory Council today announced the 34-member roster for the USOPC College Sports Sustainability Think Tank. The think tank, which will commence later this month, will identify innovative solutions to help sustain Olympic and Paralympic varsity programming opportunities within college athletics.
“Our country’s unique college system is critical not just to the health of our Olympic and Paralympic teams, but to the longstanding vitality of sports across our country,” said USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland. “Now is the time to assemble leaders who are passionate about keeping this ecosystem strong for today’s athletes and for the generations to come.”
The USOPC think tank will initiate three working groups focused on the areas of partnerships, sport economics and regulations. Chaired by Scott Stricklin, University of Florida athletics director and USOPC CAC member, the effort is a collaboration across schools, the NCAA, the USOPC, National Governing Bodies and Team USA athletes.
PARTNERSHIPS WORKING GROUP
The partnerships working group will explore options to drive national alignment around Olympic and Paralympic sport structures and examine innovative collaboration opportunities across a variety of stakeholder groups. The 11-member group is comprised of:
• Greg Byrne (chair), University of Alabama athletics director
• Gene Smith, The Ohio State University senior vice president and athletic director
• Jennifer Frasier, NCAA director of division I governance
• Katie Bynum, USOPC chief strategy & growth officer
• Max Siegel, USA Track & Field CEO
• Cayla Barnes, Olympian (ice hockey) and Boston College student-athlete
• Jessica Heims, Paralympian (track and field) and University of Northern Iowa student-athlete
• Brett Gorman, USRowing director of coaching education and USRowing national team coach
• Martin Jarmond, University of California, Los Angeles director of athletics
• Greg Brown, former Learfield IMG College president and CEO
• Caroline Rebello, Evolution Media Capital managing director
SPORT ECONOMICS WORKING GROUP
The sport economics working group will review sport-specific and nationwide sport economic management models to promote sustainable behaviors for lasting sport sponsorship. The 11-member group is comprised of:
• Rob Mullens (chair), University of Oregon athletic director
• Sandy Barbour, Pennsylvania State University vice president for intercollegiate athletics
• Kathleen McNeelly, NCAA senior vice president of administration and chief financial officer
• Sarah Hirshland, USOPC CEO
• Rich Bender, USA Wrestling executive director and USOPC board member
• Sho Nakamori, former national team member (gymnastics) and Stanford University student-athlete
• Maddie Musselman, Olympian (water polo) and University of California, Los Angeles student-athlete
• Jeremy Fischer, USA Track & Field national team coach
• Val Ackerman, Big East Conference commissioner
• Jamie Pollard, Iowa State University director of athletics
• Don Bruce, University of Tennessee professor in the Haslam College of Business
REGULATIONS WORKING GROUP
The regulations working group will explore regulatory adjustments to allow schools more flexibility to manage their sport profiles in a meaningful and sustainable way. The 11-member group is comprised of:
• Chris Plonsky (chair), University of Texas chief of staff and executive senior associate athletics director
• Bubba Cunningham, University of North Carolina director of athletics
• Stan Wilcox, NCAA executive vice president of regulatory affairs
• Rick Adams, USOPC chief of sport performance & NGB services
• Pat Kelleher, USA Hockey executive director
• Kendall Spencer, national team member (track and field) and University of New Mexico student-athlete
• Sierra Schmidt, national team member (swimming) and University of Michigan student-athlete
• Adam Krikorian, USA Water Polo women’s senior national team head coach
• Robin Harris, Ivy League executive director
• Ray Anderson, Arizona State University vice president for university athletics
• Jim Knowlton, University of California, Berkeley director of athletics
Each working group will explore both short- and long-term initiatives that encourage and support broad-based sport sponsorship of Olympic and Paralympic sport opportunities. The working groups will spend time in November and December ideating on the stated charge.
“We are grateful to the administrators, coaches, athletes and industry experts who are willing to help us transform the landscape to support Olympic and Paralympic sport opportunities at the college level,” said Strickin. “There is a renewed appetite for exploring creative avenues to support broad-based sports, and we need to lean in now.”
Feedback from the think tank working groups will be formalized into recommendations that will be shared with the USOPC CAC in Q1 2021. Final recommendations will be brought forward to the NCAA/college leaders and USOPC board of directors as appropriate. Recommendations may involve specific action items and/or best practices and may organically evolve as work begins.