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When walking through the athletic department at UW-Whitewater it is likely you will see Tom Fick sitting next to a student either helping with a task or reminiscing. After 38 years as the sports information director with the Warhawks, he has a lot of stories.
During his renowned career, Fick has seen UW-W transition from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the merger of men’s and women’s conferences into the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), the first Warhawk women’s soccer and bowling teams, each and every individual national champion that has worn the Purple and White and every national championship trophy hoisted by a UW-Whitewater program.
Fick will be honored with a 2014 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award on June 9 at the upcoming June CoSIDA Convention in Orlando.
Still, the one part of the job Fick holds most dear is the day-to-day interaction with the students. “Over the course of 38 years, we’ve had several hundred students spend time with us, and given that much of the time students give up is prime time, evenings and weekends, you develop a ‘common adversity’ mentality,” Fick said when asked about the best part of his job. “You’re all giving something up, but to compensate, you make that time together enjoyable. Friendships, some that have lasted years past graduation, are a treasure.”
His mentoring approach and ability to help each student grow every day has been adored by the student staff throughout the years. Many of Fick’s former students from throughout his career call and email frequently just to check-in.
Fick also noted the importance of teaching students when working in higher education. “A lot of learning takes place outside the classroom and we need to be part of that. We aren’t teaching subject matter, but work habits, writing, design and computer skills, functioning as part of a team, leading a team, working with diverse personalities, setting and adhering to deadlines ... are all experiences we can teach.”
With a career spanning nearly 40 years, the profession has changed greatly during Fick’s tenure. When he began his career at UW-Whitewater in 1976, he compiled stats using pencil, paper and a calculator. A typewriter was the “new” thing until the computer became the mainstay.
Throughout all of the changes, Fick has been a constant. It is his dedication to the job and UW-Whitewater that is most revered.
Matt Stanek, the Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations for the WIAC, noted his dedication when asked why Fick is deserving of the Lifetime Achievement Award. “In the 16 years that I had the privilege to work with him, his dedication to the WIAC and UW-Whitewater was second to none. He is one of many fine sports information directors that this conference has had.”
Bob Lanza, Associate Athletic Director at UW-Whitewater, added “As a colleague of Tom, I have seen his commitment to his profession and to UW-Whitewater Athletics. His dedication, time, effort and energy are a tribute to him as a person.”
Interim Athletic Director Amy Edmonds noted Fick’s impact at UW-Whitewater. “Tom has been a wonderful member of the Warhawk family for 38 years. I am very thankful for Tom’s time and dedication promoting our athletic successes, academic accomplishments and community service projects. Tom played a critical role by ensuring that our campus and department are recognized for excellence in all we do throughout his contacts locally, regionally and nationally. We will miss his presence in the office and love of sport.”
Stew Salowitz, the long-time Sports Information Director at Illinois Wesleyan, summed it up best, saying, "Tom is the epitome of a professional sports information director. He has been successful at spanning the “pre-Stat Crew era”, when using ditto sheets and homemade stat sheets was common, to the present day, when information is transmitted immediately. Tom has been a terrific mentor to a number of loyal student workers and a role model, setting an example by his work ethic and the hours he has spent in the office, at events and postgame. Most importantly, his loyalty to UW-Whitewater and their student-athletes has always been apparent and modern-day SIDs would be lucky to have worked with him.”
Athletics is a passion that goes above and beyond UW-Whitewater for Fick. He served as a member on the public information/media relations staffs for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (1984), the United States Olympic Committee in Seoul (1988), and the Atlanta Olympic Organizing Committee (1996). He added time in the same capacity for the USOC Press Operations Office at the U.S. Olympic Festivals in Houston (1986), Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill (1987) and Oklahoma City (1989).
As an avid runner, Fick’s time as a volunteer in media services at the Boston Marathon from 2010-2012 is an experience he holds dear to his heart. He was a regional result coordinator as a volunteer for the Badger State Games for five years and state results coordinator another year.
Fick has also served as a volunteer coach and participant in city recreation activities including youth soccer, youth basketball, and youth baseball from 1986-2000 in Fort Atkinson and Whitewater.
After all of these experiences, when asked what he plans to do after retirement, Fick noted that it would be a difficult transition. “It’s going to be hard to change the habits of 40 years of working, the ebb and flow of contests, the change of seasons, the crescendo of a week.”
However, he does plan to see what weekends are for and attend to the managed forest land his family owns in central Wisconsin that he greatly enjoys visiting.
Additionally, community service, an attribute modeled by his parents, is an important facet of Fick’s life. He will continue to give back to the community by helping two non-profits in the area.
Lastly, and most importantly for Fick, his family will come first. “Most importantly, I have a wife and four daughters to whom I owe a great deal of time. There is no way to make it up and time is a finite resource, but as much as possible, what time I have left, is theirs.”