Church Announces Retirement after 25 Years at the MAAC
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. - A member of the MAAC staff since 1990, Barbara Church brought her on-campus experience from Saint Peter’s College (now Saint Peter's University) to the conference office. Her responsibilities include managing the MAAC budget and financial operations, overseeing the Conference’s compliance program, and serving as the HR Administrator and the Senior Woman Administrator.
“Barbara Church’s career in intercollegiate athletics began at Saint Peter’s University and coincided with the formation of the MAAC and they have been linked ever since,” notes Richard Ensor, MAAC Commissioner. “At Saint Peter’s and later in the conference office, Barbara was a voice for equity and student-athlete welfare long before these concepts were widely accepted, and she made sure that the MAAC lived up to its mission of ‘Excellence in Academics and Athletics.’ On behalf of the MAAC Council of Presidents, our athletic administrators, coaches and student-athletes, I congratulate her on career and wish her well in her pending retirement.”
With the help of her leadership, the MAAC continued expanding women’s conference sponsored sports to include rowing, water polo, lacrosse and most recently field hockey. Beyond administrative duties, Church serves as a mentor for many young interns, providing hands-on training and networking opportunities.
A 1971 graduate of Montclair State College, Church was a physical education instructor and coach at Terang High School in Victoria, Australia and at Verona High School in New Jersey. She also served as field hockey coach and assistant to the sports information director at her alma mater. Church attended Washington State University in 1977, working as a graduate assistant, and earning her Master’s Degree in Physical Education and Recreation. She returned to New Jersey to become the Associate Athletic Director at Saint Peter’s College, where she served for 13 years.
Church has been active on the state, regional, and national levels. She is the past president of the New Jersey Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (NJAIAW) and the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey (CAANJ). She has served on numerous Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) committees, on the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, the NCAA Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet, the NCAA Student-Athlete Re-Instatement Committee, and the NCAA Certification Committee. In 1993, Church was inducted into the Saint Peter’s College Hall of Fame, in 1997 was the recipient of the NJAIAW Special Achievement Award, and in 1999, received the CAANJ Garden State Award for substantial and enduring contributions to the development of intercollegiate athletics in the state of New Jersey. In 2001, Church was selected as the recipient of the ECAC Katherine Ley Award. This award is presented annually to honor a female athletics administrator who demonstrates the values and characteristics displayed by Katherine Ley through leadership ability, dedication to women’s issues and presence as a role model for women in intercollegiate athletics.
When the MAAC was formed in 1980, Church was working at Saint Peter’s College, a charter member of the conference.
After serving 38 years, first at Saint Peter’s and later at the conference, Church has announced her retirement at the end of the 2014-15 academic year. Church notes that her job at the conference has been both challenging and rewarding and would choose the same career path if she had to do it over again. She will cherish the friendships she has made over the years, remember the journey from AIAW to the NCAA, and continue to tell Saint Peter’s football stories to those who have not yet heard them. She feels blessed to have been able to serve as a mentor to the many young compliance “fellows” who have become successful career people in the industry.