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This feature is one of the many profiles we are doing to showcase our diverse CoSIDA membership during 2017 CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week. To see all the feature stories,
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Jim Zuhlke (West Chester University at Sports Information Director) and Danah Allen (Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director at Immaculata University)
by Rob Knox, Towson University, Associate Director Athletics Media Relations
CoSIDA 1st Vice President/CoSIDA Recognition Week Committee member
Married since January 2008, the lives of
Jim Zuhlke and
Danah Allen neatly intersected while they worked together at Army.
“I had the desk next to Jim, and seriously stared at the back of his head all day,” Allen said.
“I really didn’t see Jim as anything more than my co-worker until mid-October of that fall. I was the women’s basketball contact, and we had a coaching change the first week of October as Maggie Dixon was hired as the Black Knights’ new head coach.
“I had been up in the basketball office meeting with her about the media guide in the morning, and was a little overwhelmed with all the work ahead of me and meeting a tight deadline. So, I called Jim in the office and asked if he wanted to meet me at Subway for lunch. Later, I found out that he had already eaten lunch, but he came and met me anyway. I really just wanted to talk to someone about my morning and calm me down, and it just all started from there.”
With over 30 years of combined athletics communication experience, Allen and Zuhlke work at different NCAA Division III schools located about 20 minutes apart in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.
Allen is the Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director at Immaculata University while Zuhlke is the Sports Information Director at West Chester.
Madeline Grace
They also have a 2-year-old daughter, Madeline Grace, which can make for some hectic and tender moments. Fortunately, Allen understands the hustle and bustle of Zuhlke’s lifestyle and vice versa. The glue of their lives, however, is a calendar, meticulously created monthly by Allen.
After Immaculata and West Chester athletic events are added to the calendar, Allen charts who is responsible for picking up their daughter from school every day, who is staying home each weekend, and what days a babysitter is needed.
Allen and Zuhlke get plenty of support from their relatives when it comes to navigating the challenging world of endless home athletic events, late night recaps, and random text messages from coaches and administrators requesting something additional while raising a daughter. It’s tough, but they have been able to make it look easy by communicating consistently and making family time a priority.
“I don’t know that there are any benefits to working the crazy hours SIDs put in while trying to raise a family,” Zuhlke said. “Though, I guess I would say that since Madeline was born, I leave work at a more regular hour because I have to pick her up from day care, and they close at 6 p.m. Weekends between September and May Madeline spends with her Uncle Mike and Aunt Robin – my older brother and his wife. I don’t know what we would do without them. They have been without question a God-send for us. Danah’s parents will also fly up from Florida on the rare occasions that my brother and his wife have a conflict. Her parents have also helped us out tremendously.”
And sometimes, their great scheduling gets tripped up. In 2012, Allen thought she planned the perfect vacation for the couple.
“Then, our baseball team made an improbable run to the national title – alas, I was only there for two of the four wins in Cary, N.C. because my wife scheduled a vacation in San Francisco for June 1-6,” Zuhlke said. “The night we won the national title, I was stuck on Alcatraz watching the game on my iPad trying to catch the last ferry boat back to the mainland.
“In my wife’s defense, our baseball team was coming off a 22-21 record in which it did not make any postseason of any kind. So, I told my wife (who did ask if I would have to cover anything June 1st) ‘The only possible thing would be if our baseball team made the national championship game – like the FINAL game! What are the odds of that?’
The lessons learned at Army have served both well while running their respective media relations offices. Zuhlke has covered five team national championships, including the recent baseball title this past spring. He’s also witnessed three swimmers win a total of nine national championships with the addition of the 800 free relay team.
While many think working at a Division I school is significantly different than working at a smaller school, the reality is the same skills, work-ethic, passion, and communication is needed to succeed no matter where you are.
“When I started at Immaculata, I won’t lie, it was a big change coming from working at NCAA Division I institutions. Most recently, I had been at the U.S. Military Academy and now I moved to a small, NCAA Division III Catholic institution that was just three years into being co-educational,” Allen said. “Immaculata ended up hosting the basketball championship game. I have to say that during the days leading up to the championship game, I relied heavily on my experience from being the women’s basketball contact at Army. I had been trained on what to do and how to handle the situation. It was a crazy few days, but I will never forget the atmosphere in the gym that night when the team won the first men’s conference title in Immaculata history.”
Of course, Zuhlke, her number one supporter, was right by her side either sharing the excitement of the moment or working the event.
Witnessing the flood of delirious joy from student-athletes and coaches make the late nights, long hours, and sacrifices worth it- including connecting on an iPad at Alcatraz.