Women Leaders in College Sports Announces 2017 Lifetime Achievement Awards

PRESS RELEASE

August 30, 2017
Contact: Rachel DeSchepper
Women Leaders in College Sports
[email protected]
816-389-8208

Kansas City, Mo.—In recognition of outstanding achievement and dedication to the advancement of women in intercollegiate athletics, Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA), the nation’s premier women’s athletic leadership association, announced today the 2017 recipients of the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award: Carolyn Schlie Femovich (senior partner at the PICTOR Group and retired executive director of the Patriot League) and Marcy Weston (former coach, administrator, and interim associate vice president and director of athletics at Central Michigan University).

The honorees will be celebrated Monday October 9 at the NIKE Lifetime Achievement and Honor Awards Luncheon—featuring special guest Jill Ellis, head coach of the USWNT and emceed by Kristi Scales, sideline reporter for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network—in conjunction with the 2017 Women Leaders National Convention Dallas, Texas.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is bestowed annually to administrators who have dedicated their professional careers to advancing women in sport, rendered meritorious service, and retired from or are no longer directly involved in the profession. Honorees are nominated by their peers and selected by past Lifetime Achievement award recipients.

“I am thrilled and honored to celebrate these inspiring, game-changing heroes,” says Patti Phillips, Women Leaders chief executive officer. “Carolyn and Marcy have tirelessly dedicated their lives to helping women achieve greatness in sport and athletics administration, and now we are proud to recognize and honor them for their outstanding achievements in Dallas.”

View past Women Leaders award winners here.

About the Honorees

Carolyn Schlie Femovich is an accomplished athletics administrator and respected leader in higher education. She served in top leadership positions in intercollegiate athletics for 40 years at both the campus and conference office levels. Currently, she contributes her diverse knowledge and expertise as a senior partner with The PICTOR Group an intercollegiate athletics consulting firm.

Femovich was appointed Executive Director of the Patriot League in 1999 and provided executive leadership for the growth and development of the League until retiring in 2015. At the time of her appointment, she was one of two women to hold the top post of a combined men and women's conference at the NCAA Division I level. The Patriot League is respected for successfully integrating competitive Division I athletics and the academic achievement of its student-athletes.

Throughout her tenure at the Patriot League, Femovich focused on key areas including the development of a comprehensive multimedia package, expansion of League membership, and improvement of League competitiveness. Emphasis was placed on programs that presented unique opportunities for the advancement of the League and positioning the League as a leader on national issues. During her time, the Patriot League Leadership Academy was initiated to develop its scholar-athletes into world-class leaders. Femovich also launched an innovative and comprehensive digital network to promote and publicize the League’s 24 sport programs.

Prior to her appointment as Executive Director, Femovich served in leadership roles as Senior Associate Director, Interim Director of Athletics and Associate Director at the University of Pennsylvania from 1982 to 1999. She began her career in intercollegiate athletics in 1975 at Gettysburg College where she served as head coach of women's basketball and tennis, assistant professor and Coordinator of Women's Athletics.

Femovich served in national leadership positions with the NCAA as chair of the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, on the NCAA Management Council and Division I Women’s Basketball Committee as well as on numerous regional and national committees. She served as chair of the Division I Collegiate Commissioners’ Association (CCA) and was also chairperson of the Collegiate Women's Sports Awards Program.

Femovich is a graduate of Valparaiso University where she currently serves on the Board of Directors, and received a Master of Science degree from Indiana University. In 2015 she was inducted into the Valparaiso Athletics Hall of Fame and into the ECAC Hall of Fame in 2016. Femovich and her husband Bob reside in Bethlehem, PA and are members of Concordia Lutheran Church where they serve in various leadership capacities.

Marcy Weston spent 42 years as a major influence on intercollegiate athletics, both at Central Michigan as a coach in field hockey, women’s basketball, volleyball and her leadership in athletics administration, and on a national level recognized as a top basketball official and pioneer in advancing women’s roles in collegiate athletic administration.

Weston’s career began at Central Michigan as head coach for field hockey (1972-73), women’s basketball (1974-76) and volleyball (1974-88) teams. She moved into administration in 1989, serving as Senior Associate Athletics Director from 1989-2011 and as Executive Associate Athletic Director from 2011-2015.

As a coach, Weston amassed a 419-143-15 record in 15 years at the helm of the volleyball program, winning four Michigan Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) titles while coaching three Mid-American Conference Players of the Year, 20 All-MAC student-athletes, and seven academic All-MAC honorees. Her volleyball teams hold the program’s single-season records for most wins (54 in 1981), best winning percentage (.864, 38-6 in 1982) and longest winning streak (13 matches in 1981).

Weston has been recognized as one of the top basketball officials, refereeing from 1964-84 and officiating two National Championship Games including the first ever NCAA women’s title game in 1982. She also served as the first NCAA Women’s Basketball Secretary-Rules Editor (1985-1997) and the first National Coordinator of Women’s Basketball Officiating (1996-2005), where she evaluated and assigned officials to the NCAA Division I Tournament from 1985-2006.

Weston was the first woman ever to receive professional/collegiate officiating’s highest honor, the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) Gold Whistle Award in 2008. She was also the first to receive both the Gold Whistle Award and the Mel Narol NASO Medallion, which is given for lifelong contributions to the betterment of the sports officiating profession. Weston was recognized by the NCAA in 1991 as one of nine major contributors to the first decade (1981-91) of NCAA women’s basketball. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Central Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame, which is named in her honor, in 2004.

A native Wayne-Westland, Mich., Weston received the 2013 Naismith Women’s College Officials of the Year award and the 1994 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Jostens-Berenson Service Award. She was named to Referee Magazine’s list of “Twenty Who Made a Difference in Refereeing” and was honored with the 2012 Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award from the Michigan American Council on Education Network for Women Leaders in Higher Education.

Weston received special recognition awards from the University of Dayton National Alumni Association (2000), the Michigan High School Athletic Association (2000), and the Central Michigan University Leadership Institute (2001). She was named the 1994 National Collegiate Women Administrators Region V Administrator of the Year and the NCAA Regional Gymnastics Administrator of the Year in 2003 and 2004. She served on a number of committees including the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Issues Committee, and the USA Basketball Officiating Committee.

About the Women Leaders National Convention

The Women Leaders National Convention is the premier conference for women working in intercollegiate athletics. Attended by athletics directors, conference commissioners, coaches, administrators, and staff from all divisions of intercollegiate athletics, this annual gathering provides three days of unparalleled education, leadership training and networking. The 2017 event will be held October 8-10 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel.

About Women Leaders in College Sports

Founded in 1979, Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA; www.womenleadersincollgesports.org) is the only nationally recognized collegiate professional membership organization whose mission is to develop, connect, and advance women leaders working in intercollegiate athletics. More than 3,500 members strong, Women Leaders promotes the growth, leadership, and success of women as athletics administrators, conference commissioners, professional staff, coaches, and student-athletes.