Mike Overman assumes the role as athletic director:
ASHLEY BIUNDO SPORTS EDITOR:
Mike Overman, a Union High School alumni, is the new Athletic Director for Saint Louis Community College. Growing up in Union, Missouri, Overman played sports his whole life, continuing his sports career at Southwestern Illinois College for two years before moving on to Lincoln University. “[I got] my master’s degree and began coaching in the world of college sports,” Overman said. Before pursuing his career at STLCC, Overman had some coaching opportunities and was fortunate to be given an opportunity at Mineral Area College to take over as the athletic director. Although Overman was collegiate athlete for SWIC, he was familiar with the STLCC campuses through competing against them. Being an athletic director meant Overman travelled to their campuses, like Florissant Valley for men’s soccer and Forest Park for men and women’s basketball. Overman was also close friends with STLCC’s previous Athletic Director, Shawn Summe. “We are pretty close and good friends in the region. He raved about his staff here and people at STLCC. He was spot on, and I really enjoyed my experience here and enjoyed working with the team here at STLCC,” Overman said. He plans to build upon what Summe has done for STLCC. Being an athletic director comes with many roles, according to Overman. “I think you want to be as encouraging as you possibly can and try to lead people down the correct path or what you see as the best path for them,” said Overman. “You try to make sure your staff has a good understanding of the direction you want to go as a department. Be supportive and let the coaches do their jobs.” The Athletic Director position comes with many rewards and some challenges, he says. The focus is not only sports, but academics as well. “We are constantly looking at ways to improve, and [we do, subsequently] continue to improve,” Overman said. “I think that is something you can always improve on […] your academic achievements from an athletic perspective.” Other than academics, there is healthy competition. The men’s soccer team had the opportunity to go to the national tournament and, according to Overman, it was a great experience. The primary goal is “to create a best possible experience for the student athletes,” Overman said. “[STLCC] is in a unique situation unlike other community colleges with the separation of each campus,” said Overman. “They are fun challenges; that probably attracted me to this position. So just having that opportunity to bounce around and see new faces, trying to build on that communication from campus to campus.” Achievements and challenges, with the help of coaches and the athletic director, create success in the athletes, according to Overman. “They are so passionate about what they do, and whenever we are looking at student athletes, we are looking for character, academics, and looking for athletes who are talented enough to compete at the collegiate level,” said Overman. “We want to recruit student athletes that really want to be here, that believe in the STLCC system. And they’re high character kids that want to achieve their grades and go on and graduate and move on from there.”
