This is Lewis University
LEWIS UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS DIRECTOR DAN SCHUMACHER When Dan Schumacher was hired as Lewis University’s Director of Athletics in June of 2006, the Chicago native knew the heights that the Flyers Athletics program could reach as a department. With great vision comes great expectations, and Schumacher and the Flyers have most certainly delivered. Since his arrival, Lewis has won five regular-season Great Lakes Valley Conference championships and nine GLVC Tournament championships, while making appearances in 12 NCAA Tournaments, including the men’s soccer team’s run to the ‘Final Four’ in 2009. While the Flyers have made improvements on the field, the fields have also been improved during Schumacher’s tenure, as there has been over $500,000 worth of facility upgrades on the Romeoville campus. Schumacher helped speed up the facility upgrade timeline by forming the Varsity Club, an organized,
www.LewisFlyers.com
non-profit fundraising arm of the Lewis University Athletic Department that supports small-scale capital improvements. Neil Carey Arena, home of both basketball and volleyball teams, has seen the most upgrades as it now features a new floor, scoreboards, a video board, island baskets and retractable bleachers which has increased the seating to over 1,000. Both the men’s and women’s swimming teams have directly benefitted from Schumacher’s efforts, as the Lewis Swimming Pool now has a state-of-the-art scoring system which has allowed the program to increase its home schedule. The locker rooms in Neil Carey Arena have been remodeled and are now equipped with flat screen televisions. Lewis now has the ability to video stream all of their home basketball games and volleyball matches from the Arena on www.LewisFlyers.com. Schumacher has also helped make the John F. Kennedy Sports Center become more ‘Flyer Friendly’, as the hallways proudly display Lewis Athletics Artwork and each office has furniture that has the Lewis Flyers Athletics logo emblazoned on it. The Athletic Training room has been remodeled and now holds custom tables, cabinets, flooring and an ice machine. Outside the JFK Sports Center, the Lewis softball team now has new dugouts, a new press box and a custom windscreen for the outfield fence, while the outfield fence of Brennan Field, home of the Flyer baseball team, now has a custom windscreen as well. On the docket for both fields are brand new Daktronics scoreboards, which are slated to be finished by the 2011 season. What Schumacher is most proud of, however, is the performance of his student-athletes in the classroom. In the past three years, the graduation rate for Lewis student-athletes has risen from 60% to as high as 86%, while the Flyers’ Academic Success Rate (ASR) has peaked at a remarkable 98%, Schumacher has brought along seven new head
coaches, including women’s volleyball coach Lorelee Smith and men’s basketball coach Scott Trost. Smith has won two Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season championships, along with two GLVC Tournament championships while losing just 17 matches in three seasons. In his second season as the head coach, Trost led the Flyers to 20 wins for just the 14th time in school history, as well as an appearance in the GLVC Tournament finals and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. A 1986 Carl Sandburg High School graduate, Schumacher was responsible for the financial administration of Winona State athletics. Among his duties were marketing and promotions, development, external relations, corporate relations, facilities oversight, budgeting and NCAA compliance. Schumacher was the primary catalyst of a two-year campaign that generated $3 million, through private donations and newly developed athletics department revenue channels, for major improvements to Winona State’s soccer, football, baseball, softball and basketball facilities. He also spearheaded a project that transformed a $42,000 annual corporate sponsorship program into an annual corporate/external relations program that generates $500,000 in scholarships for Winona State athletics and the WSU Foundation. Schumacher spent seven years with Conseco Finance Corporation prior to joining the Winona State staff, serving as Senior Credit Manager from 1995-98 and as Vice President from 1998-2002. He was a Branch Manager for TCF Bank and Mortgage Corporation in Minneapolis from 1990-95. Schumacher earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations (business administration minor) in 1989 and a master’s degree in educational/school administration in 2005, both at Winona State. As a member of the WSU football team, he garnered All-America honors and served two seasons as a team captain. Schumacher and wife Kristin are the parents of daughter Kasey (15) and sons Jack (12) and Declan (8).