Behind every program and varsity sport is an athletic department that works behind the scenes to benefit each program. The department provides resources for each varsity sport and works endlessly to support each coach and student-athlete.
Mike Zapolski is in his seventeenth year as the athletic director, and over the years, he has seen a mass improvement in the athletic program at Augustana. From adding multiple varsity sports to the college to improving and building new facilities for each program, the Vikings’ athletic program has improved massively.
“I am extremely pleased with the improvements and the enhancements that we’ve made at Augustana, with new facilities and new renovations,” Zapolski said. “The college is in the midst of a campus master plan, and we have some things on the table that relate to facility enhancements over the 15-year plan.”
While the significant improvements are essential for the programs, so are the little changes. Becca Kitterman is in her eleventh year as the athletic department manager, and her work does not go unnoticed. Kitterman helps out the programs whether it is small changes online or getting accessories for the teams.
“My main task is to assist and help the athletic director and all of our coaches in any way possible. That can be by updating rosters, taking payments for anything or purchasing orders for equipment uniforms,” Kitterman said. “They’ll send me an invoice from whoever they want to order that from, and then I have to submit a purchase order to the business office, and then once that order is received, then we would issue a check for payment.”
In addition to getting new equipment and facilities for our varsity teams, it is also important for the programs to record and update their information on the Augustana athletics website. Trevor Jossart is the assistant athletic director in communications and works throughout the year to ensure that the information on the athletic website is correct for all athletes.
“Anything that goes on our athletics website runs through my office,” Jossart said. “My assistant and I are required to report stats to the NCAA and accurate results. Those go right on our website, and then those go to our conference office. Outside of stats, we keep track of the roster and make sure that it’s accurate. I meet with our coaches throughout the year and ensure that our roster is up to date, that they’re spelled correctly, and that they have the right info and bios.”
With 28 varsity teams, the athletic department works hard to meet the needs of each program. However, it can be challenging for the department to stay up to date on all the needs of each program during the fall, winter and spring seasons. Some challenges that the athletic department may face is communicating with the coaches while multiple teams are in season or ordering equipment for each team.
“A challenge would be just getting things in a timely manner, so that way I can help the coaches to the best of my degree or ability,” Kitterman said. “It’s just staying on top of coaches, especially if they’re in season. I know they’re more distracted, but I still want to get things taken care of in a timely manner for them so that their program can keep moving forward.”
Although it is the athletic department, it also focuses on the education side for the student-athletes. One important award for student-athletes is the academic All-American award, which Jossart works on throughout the seasons.
Augustana has 183 all-time academic All-Americans, which ranks the Vikings 14th through all divisions and seventh in division three. This is an incredible feat, considering the size and resources that most Division I schools have compared to a small Division III school like Augustana. Jossart wants to report this information so that Augustana’s number of academic All-Americans continues to grow.
“One of the big projects for me each year is nominating for our academic All-Americans,” Jossart said. “I’ve begun to start working on those in our fall sports. Those do take quite a bit of time because I want to make sure all of the information that we are submitting is relevant and accurate so that we have the best chance of getting all-district selections and then All-American academic and All-American selections.”
At the end of the day, the athletic department is the backbone of each program and is a huge contributor to the teams’ success. An important factor for the teams is making sure that the student-athletes are satisfied with their sport, and the athletic department reviews the feedback it receives from the student-athletes to ensure that they are.
“We have a student-athletes survey that we ask our student-athletes to complete so it gives them the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience, which is helpful,” Zapolski said. “I can intake that and then process it, and then give feedback to our coaches, which can be used in a way where they can make improvements in their work.”
Through the three seasons, all aspects of the athletic department will look to help maintain the success of each of the programs at Augustana. While the records and results may not have a direct impact on the department, their work does not go unnoticed and benefits the teams all around.