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Cindy Potter – Columbia College (Mo.), Senior Deputy Director of Athletics

Bud Nangle Award
Presented to a CoSIDA member or an individual outside of CoSIDA who embodies the ideals of intercollegiate athletics by showing ethics, integrity, compassion and/or bravery in a singular act or under an unusual or stressful personal or professional situation. Note: Voted on by the Special Awards Committee only when worthy candidates are nominated.

by Jay Stancil – Union (Ky.), Director of Strategic Communications

As athletic communications directors, we are taught to be prepared for anything. And whether if it is a championship run or a devastating loss, we are also taught to handle all situations with a calm, cool, level-headed demeaner as we are not supposed to let our emotions get involved during the moment.

However, there is one situation that truly tests a person's ability to maintain composure while serving as the spokesperson of an institution: the untimely death of a student-athlete.

Cindy Potter, current Senior Deputy AD at Columbia College (Mo.) and CoSIDA’s president for 2021-22, found herself thrusted into this role on the morning of Sept. 21, 2019, when she woke up to calls and text messages regarding the death of one of Columbia College’s (Mo.) volleyball players, Shelby Meyer.
 

Potter said she was in disbelief when she awoke to the calls and texts regarding Meyer’s passing.

“I don't live far from work, so I threw some clothes on and got here, and the whole team was sitting outside the gym,” Potter recalled. “I walked up and was immediately tackled by our student assistant coach who really couldn't talk. She just kept saying, 'She's gone. She's gone.'

“I felt like as much as I was not OK because I had not lost a current student-athlete before, I just felt like I had to be the rock in that situation.”

Potter’s actions and handling of traumatic and tragic situation at Columbia has earned her the 2022 Bud Nangle Award. The award is presented to a member of CoSIDA or to an individual outside of CoSIDA who shows ethics, integrity, and bravery under unusual or stressful situations while carrying out their job duties. Created in 2013, this is only the fifth time the honor has been awarded.

Adding to a list of unusual and stressful situations recently has been Potter and her family dealing with her daughter C.J.’s diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes, which happened in February 2020, at the start of the pandemic, a diagnosis which Potter has publicly written about in a recent CoSIDA 360 column. And, with all the pressures of holding her Columbia job, and serving as CoSIDA president, Potter also headed the search committee to find CoSIDA’s next executive director.

Back to the 2019 sudden passing of student-athlete Meyer.

For full context, Meyer was not simply a student-athlete to Potter. Meyer’s older sister, Sami, played at Columbia and helped the Cougars win the NAIA National Championship in 2015.

“I had grown close to their whole family and was super excited when Shelby signed to play for us because I just love their family and was just thinking that I get to have the Meyer family around again,” Potter noted.

Meyer’s untimely passing added to what had already been a tumultuous 2019 for Potter and the Columbia community. That spring, Columbia’s longtime athletic director Bob Burchard left, and Potter was named the interim athletic director. Soon after that, the Cougars’ national title winning volleyball coach left.

Fast forward to the fall of 2019, Columbia had a new head volleyball coach and a new athletic director, and a week prior to Meyer’s passing, another Columbia student passed away.

“Cindy’s institutional knowledge and years of experience are something that I and our entire department rely on regularly and are grateful to have,” said Columbia Athletic Director James Arnold, who had been at the school a few months at the time of Meyer’s passing. “She always provides tremendous insights, perspective, and a reassuring hand when needed.”

Potter said she and the team stood outside the gym for hours, grieving and sharing memories. Counselors were brought in.

But then, crisis management mode took over.

Amid trying to craft a statement about Meyer’s passing, Potter had to oversee a soccer doubleheader Columbia was hosting.

“One of the toughest days of my career, for sure, because we just had to live it,” Potter said. “There was no ability to just go in my office and cry or go home and hug my kids or meet with her family. It was a very strange day to try and navigate two games that day and still make sure everyone was OK and get them help if they needed help, and then try to figure out what happened.

“There was a good 24-hour span that I couldn't tell you what happened because it was such a blur. I would describe myself as a robot that day. I definitely cried. I definitely was emotional, but not nearly what I think I would've been if I wasn't in a position of where I had to be the strong one for 20 student-athletes.

After taking a few days off from matches, Columbia resumed its season but played without a libero for several matches as that was Meyer’s role. Potter said the team did that to honor her and because nobody could fill that void right away.

“That was a position she played so well,” she added, “and we didn't have anyone that could just step in there right away and be that person for the team. Our volleyball coach (Allison Jones-Olson) was very stoic during the whole process, and I'd say all this was harder on her than anyone outside of Shelby's family, and she handled it with a lot of grace.”

The Cougars regrouped and finished the 2019 season with a 29-6 overall record and advanced to the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

Typically, Potter drives separately from the team when going to the national tournament. But in 2019, she rode the team bus.

“I did that because they felt like they were family,” Potter said. “I felt like we were a closer unit than I have ever felt before with any other team. I give huge amount of credit to our coach, but some of those hurdles that we jumped over were critical in developing into the team we ended up being.”

Family takes care of family, and Potter is a prime example of this.