Douma named GPAC Athletic Director of Year

Ross Douma of Dordt University has been selected as the 2021-22 Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference Athletic Director of the Year in voting by the league’s athletic directors earlier this summer.

• GPAC Release | PDF

Douma has been the director of athletics at Dordt since 2017 after serving as the head coach of the men’s basketball team for nine seasons. Dordt’s third-place finish in the GPAC (Great Plains Athletic Conference) All-Sports standings is the best in school history and the 15th place finish in the national Learfield Cup Ratings was also a program best.

• "Ross is a first-rate leader and driven for excellence because of his love for Jesus," stated Dordt University President Erik Hoekstra. "He desires to develop these same leadership qualities in student-athletes, both during their time at Dordt and throughout their entire lives following graduation. Ross is a huge blessing to Dordt and I believe deserving of this Athletic Director of the Year honor."

Dordt’s athletic department consists of 22 full-time employees, 29 part-time staff members and serves 625 student-athletes. Douma also provides governance for the Defender Gold Club Board and the Athletics Advisory Board which analyzes and assesses fundraising for strategic priorities for Defender Athletics. In 2019, the Defender Gold Club generated $676,781 and has increased to $5,076,960 in 2021.

• "This is a great honor for Ross and is a tribute to all that he has done for Defender athletics," commented Dordt's Director of Athletic Communications Mike Byker. "Under Ross's leadership, Dordt athletics had a great year in 2021-22, not just in terms of its athletic and academic success, but also in promoting and living out The Defender Way. Ross continues to share the mission of Dordt University and has helped generate funds that will help Defender athletics continue to excel."

Athletes at Dordt have earned a 3.45 or better cumulative grade point average the last four school years and all athletic teams have earned NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Scholar-Team status in each of those years. Douma also represents Dordt on the joint use facilities board that partners Dordt with the Sioux City of Sioux Center in the management and use of athletic fields and facilities.