College Sports Information Directors of America

Cindy Potter – Columbia College Director of Athletics

CSC Hall of Fame Class of 2025

by Doug Vance, former CSC Executive Director (retired)/CSC Hall of Famer and Special Awards Committee member
 

"Cindy's extensive experience and unwavering dedication to collegiate athletics have made a profound impact on both her colleagues and countless student-athletes. Her commitment to mentorship not only empowers communications professionals but exemplifies the spirit of the NAIA, inspiring all of us to strive for excellence. Cindy has dedicated her professional life to collegiate athletics, and the NAIA is a better organization for her involvement."

- Jim Carr, NAIA President & CEO

The road which has transported Cindy Potter's ascension starting from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to student-athlete, director of media relations, compliance coordinator and athletics director at Columbia (Mo.) College, to CSC's presidency and Hall of Fame, and through the challenges of being a mom and wife, has been overwrought with an array of bumps, sudden stops and plenty of roadblocks.

Through it all, Potter has learned that life's highway was never meant to be direct and predictable. She's found her own rewarding path and now, at age 43, is far from finished.

"No one promised me anything," said Potter in recounting her chase for achievement.  "I truly believe that acceptance has gotten me to where I am today: in a place where I'm entitled to nothing but grateful for everything."

"I've often been asked how I get it all done," Potter added. "It's not complicated. You just do it!"

To "just do it" has not always been trouble-free. Such as this episode at the launch point of her career when she traveled to her first national (CoSIDA) convention.

That pivotal moment in her professional growth can be traced back to a 2006 airport shuttle ride in Nashville. The 24-year-old Potter, with less than a year's experience as an undergraduate student assistant at her alma mater, Columbia College, was serving a three-month stint as interim SID and still refining her job skills at Columbia College. Potter's athletics director felt she could receive valuable training at the CoSIDA (CSC) Convention. 
 

"It was my first convention, and I knew only one other person attending. It was also my first time flying alone," noted Potter. "I was a little nervous."

When she arrived at the baggage carousel after her flight landed, her bags were nowhere to be found. The airline agent then informed Potter that her luggage was lost - which triggered another hike in her anxiety.

It was an unsettling start for Potter's introduction to her profession's national convention. Yet, her fortunes changed quickly as she was the beneficiary of riding on the same airport shuttle bus as a pair of the organization's most respected members; and, they came to her rescue.

"I was upset riding the shuttle to the hotel," admitted Potter. "I got a tap on my shoulder. It was two other convention attendees I had never met – Blake Timm (Pacific University) and Oliver Pierce (Gonzaga). They calmed me down and reassured me that I would have a great experience."

"They helped me relax and subsequently make friends who would last throughout my career," said Potter of the gesture by two of CSC's future Hall of Fame recipients. "I hung out with colleagues I had just met, and I don't think I slept very much because I was afraid that I'd miss something." 

Timm recalls that shuttle bus conversation with the sports information newcomer and how he related to her unnerving predicament.

"I remember that nervous young woman on the shuttle bus to the hotel in Nashville," Timm recalled. "I was only five years removed from my first convention, so I remembered what it felt like to be the unsure newbie. We spent the trip giving Cindy a pep talk. We told her how much she was going to gain from the convention and make it a positive learning experience."

"Even as nervous as she was that day, it was clear that Cindy had a passion for college athletics and to being the best SID that she could be," added Timm. "I would like to think that Oliver and I had something to do with her blossoming after that first convention, but the reality is that she had it inside her from the start."

Her destiny, unclear at that point, was beginning to take clear shape. 
 

It blossomed rapidly. Five years after her first national convention, Potter was appointed to a three-year term on the CSC (CoSIDA) Board of Directors. It marked the first time in the organization's history that an NAIA member would serve in that important leadership capacity.

"It is hard to find the words to express how proud I am of Cindy," explained Timm. "She is a warrior in every sense of the word. She has been dealt some tough hands, both professionally and personally, but she has an ability to turn a pair of twos into a full house every time. Cindy is a leader, a pro's pro. But more than that, she is a good person who puts her heart into everything she does and into the people she meets."

Potter will arrive at the 2025 CSC Convention in Orlando, 19 years after her first one, as a confident leader and achiever with a special honor presentation on her schedule. Packed in her luggage as she departs Orlando will be the symbol of career success as she will be presented with the most coveted hardware the organization offers – a CSC Hall of Fame award. 

Hopefully, the airline doesn't misplace that piece of her luggage.

A whirlwind of fulfillment – with a touch of chaos – has followed Potter in her career climb. She recognizes the irony of a journey she never envisioned as she harkens back to an early ambition while growing up.

"It was my plan to be a second-grade teacher in Winnipeg, in my native Canada," said Potter. "To arrive where I am today has been one wild ride after another."

A variety of unexpected adventures for certain, but they've ultimately carried her swiftly to the top layer of her industry as one of the most highly decorated athletic communicators in NAIA history. Recounting how she arrived at that level of respect, Potter remembers obstacles in her year as the first-ever NAIA member president of CSC (CoSIDA) and just the fifth female in its history to hold that title. 

"I was never told I would experience loss, heartbreak, name calling, health issues, an executive director search, a new membership model, a rebrand, coaches and staff resigning, and all the struggles that go along with balancing work and life with two growing kids," said Potter. "And, all this through a freaking pandemic."

Nonetheless, she overcame it all by tactfully relying on that reassuring mantra: "You just do it." 

That mentality early on fueled her athletic talents and opened the door for her experience as a student-athlete at the collegiate level. 

Potter played on the Columbia College softball team for two years where she was a captain and awarded NAIA Scholar Athlete, All-Conference, All-Region and National Tournament All-Tournament Team honors. Prior to Columbia College, Potter attended Three Rivers Junior College in Poplar Bluff, Mo. where she played basketball, volleyball and softball.  
 

It was pure happenstance that Potter and the sports communications profession discovered each other. That opportunity materialized in her junior year on the Cougar softball team when an injury forced her to the bench and Coach Wendy Spratt summoned her to keep the scorebook. As the year moved forward, and Cindy was looking for work opportunities, she was assigned to handle the soccer and women's basketball scoreboards.

"It has been my honor to watch Cindy's hard work and dedication help her ascend the ranks in the department over the past twenty-three years," said Spratt who continues to coach softball at the college. "Her tremendous experience and success in media relations, eligibility and compliance, along with her different roles as athletic director have continued to propel her career forward."

Amber Cox, then Columbia College assistant athletics director/sports information director, took notice and invited Potter to assist her in the SID office. When Cox left to join the Phoenix Mercury as director of marketing and promotions in January of 2005, she recommended Potter as her replacement. 

Cindy took over as the interim SID while still an inexperienced undergraduate student.

"It's been such a joy watching Cindy achieve so many wonderful milestones throughout her career," said Cox, who now serves as the General Manager and COO of the Indiana Fever. "Even as my sports information intern all those years ago, I knew she was going to have incredible success. In every role she's served at Columbia College, Cindy has remained passionate about creating a special experience for each student-athlete she has encountered, doing everything she can to ensure they are successful. That, coupled with her work ethic, humility and unmatched enthusiasm, has made her one of the best in the business for many years."

By any standard, Potter's achievements represent attainment few other females or NAIA members in her profession can match. Consider the following:

• She became the first female athletics director at Columbia College after being named to the role in September 2024.
• In 2021-22 she became the first NAIA member and just fifth female to serve as president of CSC (CoSIDA).
• She was the recipient of the 2020 Clarence "Ike" Pearson Award which represents the NAIA's highest honor presented to SIDs.
• She received CSC's prestigious Bud Nagle Award in 2022 and the Warren Burg Award in 2020.
• She's a member of the Columbia College Athletics Hall of Fame.
• She was the recipient of the (CoSIDA) Rising Star Award in 2008.
• She was the first NAIA member to serve in the officer rotation of the CSC (CoSIDA) board of directors.

Potter has been influential in the CSC community and highly respected among NAIA leaders nationally.

"Cindy's extensive experience and unwavering dedication to collegiate athletics have made a profound impact on both her colleagues and countless student-athletes," NAIA president Jim Carr commented. "Her commitment to mentorship not only empowers communications professionals but exemplifies the spirit of the NAIA, inspiring all of us to strive for excellence. Cindy has dedicated her professional life to collegiate athletics, and the NAIA is a better organization for her involvement." 

Beyond her ambitious work schedule and home life with husband Cory, Potter has two interests in her life that repeatedly generate a huge transfusion of happiness: her two kids and visits to Walt Disney World. Her Facebook profile picture, in fact, is Mickey Mouse hugging her daughter and son.

"Cory and I are raising two cool kids," said Potter of daughter CJ and son Chase. "Both are heavily involved in sports, and we couldn't be prouder of them."  
 

Daughter CJ was diagnosed with diabetes at age six and the news was a parent's nightmare. But it was CJ who put those fears to rest with how quickly she adapted to health requirements as a diabetic.

"She's a warrior and hasn't let anything slow her down," added Potter. "She handles everything in stride."

CJ has obviously followed her mom's example and understands you can accomplish anything if you "just do it."

Potter admittedly is an addicted Walt Disney World fanatic. She's visited the Orlando park "12 or 13 times" since restrictions were relaxed from Covid. She also serves as a Disney vacation planner as a side gig and is happy to help her friends and work colleagues develop their vacation plans to visit the Magic Kingdom and surroundings.

Potter summed up her feelings about her "wild ride" in college athletics in a letter to the CSC (CoSIDA) membership in her final days as president.

She wrote: "Having a platform as a CoSIDA leader changed my life. I hope to have impacted this profession positively during my time. It all took me to a place where life is hard every day, but every day is worth fighting for and a place where others' expectations of me don't hold a candle to the expectations I have put on myself." 

Potter's improbable lifetime roadmap remains a work in progress. This member of the 2025 CSC Hall of Fame class has learned that there are no shortcuts to success and that difficult roads often lead to rewarding destinations…and distinguished recognitions.