Chin up, Division II

Debbie Chin was at a crossroads in 1972. She had just completed her master's degree in physical education and was considering a teaching job, but because she had a hankering for computers, she was attracted by the corporate sector as well.

Fortunately for education, Chin opted for the classroom.

She faced another junction in 1993 when as the University of New Haven volleyball coach she was asked to don the athletics director hat.

Fortunately for Division II, Chin chose administration.

Not that she wasn't a great coach - on the contrary, her New Haven teams were regulars at the NCAA championship. And not that she wouldn't have been a crack computer specialist in 1972, either. It's just that at each of those forks in the road, Chin picked the path in which she could spread the greatest influence.

A positive influence is what Debbie Chin has been on higher education and intercollegiate athletics for more than three decades.

To wit, the teaching job she took in 1972 was at one of New Haven's three high schools - only one of which offered any sports opportunity for girls (a lone and loosely organized basketball team). That didn't set well with a woman who had flourished as a youngster in field hockey, volleyball, softball and track and then went on to play three of those sports at Cortland State.

 "I understood the value of participating in sports as a young girl, and I thought it was ludicrous that there weren't any opportunities at these schools," Chin said.

While Title IX was emerging at that time, Chin and other teachers sued the district under Title VI to increase the commitment to girls' sports. They won the case. "I remember the city CFO saying, ‘Well, where do you expect us to get the money?' And I said, ‘Isn't that your job?'"

Three years later, the University of New Haven - predominantly male because of its engineering, business and criminal justice curricula - opened a coordinator of women's athletics position in order to start women's programs and diversify its enrollment.

Chin got the job, and in addition to overseeing the department, she also coached tennis, volleyball, basketball and softball. She eventually whittled that to just volleyball (her favorite), and in an 18-year career posted a 578-179 record and was at that time only the fifth Division II coach to win 500 career matches. The Chargers made 10 trips to the NCAA tournament and won 30 matches in a season 12 times.

So it's no surprise that when the university's newly appointed president approached her about filling the vacated athletics director position in 1993, Chin took a while to answer.

 "I didn't know if I was ready to give up coaching," she said. "But then I thought, well, do I want to work for myself or for somebody else? Because if I don't become the new AD, somebody else will!"

As it turned out, what made Chin a good coach made her a good administrator, too. "You still work with teams, you still must motivate teams to excel at what they do, and identify strengths and weaknesses. You still need to encourage open communication," she said. "All the things necessary to produce a successful team - it's no different in administration."

It didn't take long for people to notice her skills. Josten's gave her an administrator of the year award in 1997 and NACDA followed by naming Chin its Northeast Region AD of the year in 1998-99.

She also became entrenched in athletics governance, having served on more than 30 national and regional committees since her career began. She currently chairs the Division II Management Council, and she also has headed the Division II Women's Volleyball Committee and was the first woman to serve on the Division II Baseball Committee.

All this from someone who wasn't quite sure 35 years ago about a career in athletics. But her passion for sports - and particularly her steadfast belief that sports participation enhances learning - led her to follow the call.

 "While I obviously didn't think about it as I was competing, sometimes now - looking back - I ask myself, ‘How did you get like this?'" Chin said. Her parents weren't an athletics influence, and her three siblings aren't athletically inclined, either. One is an aeronautical engineer, another works for IBM and one is a nurse.

 "We're so different," Chin said. "How did I get like this? I don't know. Nobody told me this was a path I should pursue. I happened to be in certain positions at certain times, and I saw some things that weren't right, such as the lack of opportunities for girls and women, and I wanted to do something about it - that was how I advanced my career."

But her participation in athletics afforded her the opportunity to develop leadership skills as well, for which Division II can be thankful. Over time, Chin has become one of the division's driving forces in solidifying its identity.

 "I love everything Division II stands for," she said. "Division II is about the attributes we've identified in the strategic-positioning platform. Even before we put words to what we were doing philosophically, that was in fact how we were behaving as a division - holding student-athletes accountable in the classroom, letting them understand the value athletics plays, teaching them life's lessons.

 "That is where we have the greatest impact in Division II - to communicate with our student-athletes about why they are here, which is getting an education and participating in the sport they love."

Debbie Chin profile

• Graduated from Cortland State in 1968 with a bachelor of science degree in physical education.
• Taught at a Stamford (Connecticut) high school from 1968-70.
• Earned a master's degree in physical education from North Carolina-Greensboro in 1972.
• Appointed coordinator of women's athletics at New Haven in 1975.
• Coached volleyball at New Haven from 1975-93, posting a 578-179 career record and leading teams to 10 NCAA postseason appearances.
• Inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006.
• Appointed the school's fourth director of athletics in 1993. Currently oversees a department that sponsors 17 varsity sports.
• Named Division II Management Council in 2008; formerly chaired the Division II Women's Volleyball Committee.
• Was a key figure in the university's reinstatement of football beginning in 2009. Also involved in New Haven being accepted as a member of the Northeast-10 Conference beginning in fall 2008.