Union athletic director Val Belmonte is resigning to take a position with U.S. Figure Skating in Colorado Springs. The job begins Oct. 1. No replacement has been named.
“I am extremely excited for October 1 to arrive,” Belmonte said. “The opportunity to lead one of the premier sport organizations in the world is remarkable — one that my family and I have dreamed about throughout my career.”
Belmonte will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership and management of U.S. Figure Skating. He will oversee an operating budget in excess of $14 million annually while managing the policies, programs and goals of the association.
Belmonte, 49, a former head coach at Illinois-Chicago, took over as AD at Union in 2000. He has since been heavily involved in goings on at the ECAC.
“My experience at Union has prepared me well for this next step in my career,” Belmonte said. “I want to thank Union College President Roger Hull and Vice President of Academic Affairs Christie Sorum for their support, and I wish all of Union’s coaches and student-athletes great success in their quest for achieving sustained competitive excellence.”
Before his time at Union, Belmonte served as director of the coaching program at USA Hockey from 1991-2000. Also at USA Hockey, he served as the secretary on the Executive Committee, as a member of the Board of Directors, as a member of the Playing Rules Committee, as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee and as a member of the USA Hockey Foundation Board of Directors. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Coaching Committee, the USOC High Performance Advisory Committee, the American Red Cross/USOC Sports Safety Committee and has dealt extensively with NGB volunteers and volunteer boards.
Belmonte is a 1973 graduate of Illinois-Chicago. He earned his master’s degree in physical education and education administration from North Dakota, where he also served as assistant hockey coach for one year. He was an assistant hockey coach at Illinois-Chicago and Harvard before returning to Illinois-Chicago as head hockey coach (1983-91) and, later, as assistant athletic director.
Dwight Wolf, the associate dean for academic affairs, was named the interim athletic director. Union’s plan is to do a national search and named a new athletic director to begin on July 1, 2005.
