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Date: 8/21/2015
SPRINGFIELD – Mike Murray ‘11, a former student-athlete for the Golden Bears and a member of the athletic department staff since his graduation, has been named assistant to the director of athletics at Western New England University.
That announcement was made by Western New England athletics director Dr. Mike Theulen.
In this newly-created position made possible by the NCAA Division III Ethnic Minority and Women’s Internship Grant, Murray will be responsible for contest management including scheduling, planning and implementing home contest and tournament hosting procedures as well as being tasked with the creation of a comprehensive home game management manual for each varsity sport.
He will also assist Patrick Stewart, the director of athletic communications, in developing digital marketing strategies and improving the use of technology aimed to increase traffic on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Golden Bear Sports Network (GBSN) and WNEGoldenBears.com in the day-to-day operations of a nationally-competitive 19-sport intercollegiate athletic program, mainly promoting support for athletics programs within the university community.
Murray started his new position within the athletics department on Monday after attending the NCAA Intern Seminar at the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind., from July 30 to 31.
“We are very excited and proud to have Mike Murray on staff with us as we approach this upcoming academic year. Mike has an exceptional skill set that will immediately impact our athletic Family,” Theulen said.
“As part of our administrative team, he will be instrumental in helping us to shape the quality of our contest management and his expertise in social media will help to elevate our brand and our messaging to our external constituents. Mike also has added value to us since he is a Golden Bear. His knowledge of our program, our mission and our University allows him to hit the ground running,” he continued.
Upon graduation, Murray immediately joined the coaching staff at Western New England. Completing his fourth season as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Golden Bear men’s lacrosse team, Murray remains dedicated to continuing the winning tradition of the program.
During his tenure on staff, WNE collected three Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships and advanced to the NCAA tournament for three consecutive years. Murray helped the Golden Bears win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III title last spring.
As an undergraduate at Western New England, Murray majored in education with a focus in history, while also picking up a minor in athletic coaching. Murray was also a member of the men’s lacrosse team during his four years.
He played in WNE’s midfield for his first three years before moving to attack for his senior season. During his career, the Golden Bears went 60-19 overall, including a stellar 32-6 record at home, won a pair of CCC crowns and twice advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship. The Golden Bears also won the ECAC championship his senior year. In 2013, Murray was also a part of the Golden Bear football coaching staff, as the wide receivers coach.
In 2014, he found himself holding a position with the Office of First Year Students acting as an academic success coach.
A native of Long Island, N.Y., Murray graduated from Baldwin Senior High School in 2007.
The NCAA’s two-year grant program provides funding for entry-level administrative positions at Division III institutions and conference offices to encourage access, recruitment, selection and the long-term success of ethnic minorities and women.
“Mike Murray has a passion for marketing and new media and brings that enthusiasm that will benefit how we market and promote our 19 varsity programs and 400-plus student-athletes,” Stewart said.
“While our Facebook ‘likes’ have more than tripled, our YouTube channel has grown to almost 75,000 views since its launch in October 2012 and we started to live video stream home games during my three-year tenure, I’ve wanted to do more. Now that we have Mike on board, I look forward to watching him grow our outreach in the areas of marketing, social media and athletic communications,” he continued.
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Western New England University men's soccer coach Devin O'Neill has announced his coaching staff for his first year at the Golden Bears helm, and they are familiar faces as assistants David Lindholm and Jamey Mercer will be joining the program this fall.
Both Lindholm and Mercer worked under O'Neill when he was the interim head coach at UMass-Amherst in 2014.
"I am so excited to be reunited with both Jamey and Dave. We worked very well together at UMass and I look forward to continuing to work closely as a staff as we continue to try to deliver a great experience for the young men in our program at WNE," stated O'Neill. "I am confident that our combined strengths will allow us to build upon Erin Sullivan's great work here at WNE and we are very much looking forward to the upcoming season."
With the Minutemen last season, Lindholm was the top assistant coach to O'Neill involving in all aspects of the program, including training, recruiting, budget management, scouting, travel, and day-to-day operations.
Lindholm also was an assistant coach with his alma mater at Middlebury College in 2007 when the Panthers captured their first-ever NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship crown and an all-time school best 18-2-2 record. As the program's goalkeeper coach, Lindholm mentored Brian Bush who posted a 0.32 goals-against average in 19 games during his first season as a starter, being named a first-team NSCAA All-American.
He also worked with the goalkeepers, helping develop a trio into a group that kept two shutouts in the team's final three Atlantic-10 Conference games.
Mercer graduated from fellow Commonwealth Coast Conference member Endicott College in the spring of 2014. He was a member of the Sports Management Club and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
While studying sport management, Mercer was a two-year starter at center midfield for the Gulls under former WNE assistant coach Joe Calabrese. Mercer's career was shortened by ACL injuries his freshman and sophomore years.
Mercer has served internships with Soccer City Sports Arena, Holyoke Blue Sox of the summer New England Collegiate Baseball League and the Boston Breakers of the National Women's Soccer League. He also has worked for the Western New England Soccer Academy, which is held on the Western New England campus every summer, since 2008. Mercer also has coaching experience with youth clubs such as FC Bolts, Boston Breakers Academy and, currently, the Western United Pioneers.
He was a two-time all-state player at South Hadley High School, where he served as a team captain and was named a finalist for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II Player of the Year award.
"Jamey has extensive knowledge of the CCC and many of our regional opponents, understanding of the local soccer talent pool, and he has been instrumental in beginning our recruiting efforts for 2016," added O'Neill.