Breaking New Ground

Operating for seven months without a leader, the Green Bay athletic department continued to operate despite the absence of an athletic director. Working around a flurry of rumors, and numerous absent positions, the athletic staff managed to maintain a successful operation of the department and each athletic team. The year of 2017 saw a lot of change for the athletic department. And through it all, there was an individual who took on more than anyone, and did it with extreme humility.

Word came at the end of the school year in May of 2017. Athletic director Mary Ellen Gillespie made a departure from the school that surprised the student athletes body. Mary Ellen, being from and having family on the east coast, took an athletic director position at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. Coming at the end of the 2016/2017 academic school year, the absence of an athletic director left coaches, and athletes with numerous questions as to what would happen. Word was quiet. It was unknown why Mary Ellen left, who would be the next director, and what would happen over the summer when she was gone. An athletic director is important right? So how would the entire department function without one? These were the questions that many of the student athletes were asking going into the summer.

Sitting across the table, Cory Rouw pushes back his long hair out of his eyes. A junior from Minnesota, Cory Rouw is a member of the cross country ski team at the University. Cory was a student athlete for two years while Mary Ellen was at the University. “I was shocked when she left… It happened so suddenly and we were left totally in the dark, nobody knew what was happening”. And that’s exactly where everyone was left. With a lot of ambiguity, and few answers, the student athletes went into the summer with a lot of questions.

“I mean I didn’t know her, and she didn’t know us. In the two years of being here with her I had maybe a handful of interactions with her”. This distance between the athletes and the administration is a barrier that seems impossible to break though. Mary Ellen set a record for the university, reaching one million dollars fundraised for the phoenix fund. “I really don’t know if she knew what team was on”, Cory says in a somber tone, reflecting on the previous years. Unfortunately this was the sentiment of more than a cross country skier. Laken James, a senior on the women’s basketball team had a similar opinion on Mary Ellen, saying that she was rarely there in person. This lack of personal connect to the athletes made her departure a surprise, but not a hard hit for the student athletes.

“None of us knew her very well. She never came to practices, or talked to us.” Laken said. During the transition over the summer of 2017, very little changed for the student athletes. When asked how the change affected her over the summer, Laken said that it didn’t. “I didn’t notice any change at all honestly. Everything functioned just the same over the summer, and this fall”.

As opposed to the student athlete’s, Mary Ellen leaving Green Bay was no surprise to the athletic department and staff. With the lack of shock, and Mary Ellen’s “hands off” leadership style, the athletic department was as prepared as they could be.

Before focusing on moves for the future, the Green Bay Athletic Department is in the process of the largest construction project since the Kress event center. Festival Foods Feild will replace the current home field of the mens and womens soccer teams, Aldo Santaga Stadium. The new turf soccer field will be located right next to the Kress event center, making the field more accessible to students, spectators, and athletes. The project includes a new concessions stand, announcing/broadcasting booth, lights, and more. The softball fields are also seeing benefit from the project, as they are receiving new seating, lights, graphics, and more as well. Kassie Batchelor said that it will be exciting for all students at the school, as well as being a huge revenue booster for the department.

When asked if she has any aspirations to be an athletic director, Kassie replied with a swift and decisive no. “I love the student athlete experience… I could make a heck of a lot more money, but I just was never good at math”. Kassie is passionate about what she does, and this diverse passion in the department is what makes a successful program. Now with Charles at the helm, only time will tell where the Green Bay Phoenix Athletic Department will go.

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