Watch out, Oregon Athletic Director Bill Moos.
Sandy Vaughn, Oregon’s Club Sports coordinator, is catching up.
Unlike Moos, Vaughn does not have million-dollar facilities or flashy uniforms. Yet she manages to produce, just like Moos, championship seasons and talented, hardworking athletes.
For 29 years, Vaughn has persistently worked at improving Oregon’s Club Sports program and has increased participation.
Nearly three decades have passed, and Vaughn has been giving out the same business card.
“When I accepted the job at Oregon there were 12 sports, and it was primarily male students who participated,” Vaughn said. “We have 35 sports now. It evolved due to women becoming more active and also non-traditional sports became more popular.”
Vaughn grew up in Portland and attended Oregon State. She spent five years overseas in Korea and Germany and worked for the United States Army as a civilian running recreation programs.
Ironically, Vaughn’s experience overseas is what brought her to Oregon.
“I found out that Oregon, at the time, had one of the best recreation masters programs, so I came here thinking my stay would not be permanent,” she said.
Vaughn accepted the Club Sports coordinator position after she graduated from the program. However, she viewed the job only “as a temporary one” and was not interested in making it into a career.
Now, her temporary job is her dream job.
“I love working with students,” Vaughn said. “It’s always exciting and challenging. I love hearing students tell me what an incredible opportunity it was to be involved in our program. I also get to see first-hand how much they have learned and gained from the experience.”
Vaughn’s reign is far from over. Club Sports is still growing, she said, and the reason for such growth is that facilities off-campus are now being utilized for sports such as equestrian, skydiving and skiing, among others.
“We have to not only maintain the facilities we have on campus, but increase that number,” Vaughn said. “The facilities have not really kept up with the demand, but the reason this program has been able to grow anyway is because we have a lot of sports that practice and compete off campus.
“In the 1970’s, when I became a full-time director, we were one of the first programs to have access to a full-time staff member.”
Remarkably, Oregon is still one of the few programs that has an office designated for its program and two full-time staff members on board.
Richie Carpenter, a member of Oregon’s running club, is confident that Club Sports would be lost without Vaughn in charge. He said Vaughn is always quick to get involved and defends her programs.
“She is an excellent administrator,” Carpenter said. “Actually, she is more like a team captain. She does an excellent job in making sure we get our work done. She knows her job very well and tries to pass on what she knows about what has worked in the past and what has not.”
Carpenter’s praises of Vaughn are echoed by others participating in Club Sports.
“I have worked with Sandy for a long time and I would have to say she is one of the most dedicated individuals that I have ever met,” Club Sports crew coach Erin Koenig said. “She works with over a thousand students and that takes a lot of patience.”
Vaughn ultimately would like to see an office where space issues are never a concern. She never dreamed Club Sports would outgrow the office she occupies now, but because of the almost overwhelming growth rate, a larger space is in great demand.
“What we really need is a space that is convenient for our clubs to depart from,” Vaughn said. “If we could actually have everything here including our gear, then it would make things much easier. We are hoping that when the EMU is renovated these things will be included in the plans.”
In the end, Vaughn just feels lucky to be at the head of Club Sports.
“I just feel really fortunate to have found this job and I think I have the best job on campus,” she said. “I probably work with the cream of the crop of students because they are so enthusiastic and positive.”