Molly Belden, Senior Associate Commissioner of Northeast-10 Conference

Molly Belden, Senior Associate Commissioner at Northeast – 10 (NE10) Conference did not always know she wanted to work in college athletics. Before beginning her professional career, Molly attended Hartwick College, where she was a Division III student-athlete on the tennis team. At Hartwick, she majored in political science and economics. She worked in the sports information office, where she realized that she wanted to pursue a career in college athletics. After graduating from Hartwick College, Molly attended Indiana University, where she continued her pursuit in collegiate athletics by obtaining her master’s degree in sports administration. During her time at Indiana, she was able to focus on taking classes that would help her learn more about the sports industry, taking a particular interest in NCAA Compliance, Title IX, and gender equality. Additionally, Molly gained experience working in Indiana’s ticketing office while obtaining her degree.

Once Molly graduated from Indiana, she was not able to find a job in compliance right away. However, this did not stop her from obtaining more experience in the sports industry. She got an internship in the Patriot League office, where she mainly focused in the sports information area. At the Patriot League office, she was able to gain experience helping with championships, but she still knew at that point she wanted to work in compliance. To continue on this journey, Molly had to take a step outside of college athletics and work for an equipment sales company, working on their team sales of uniforms and basketballs. Finally, luck struck for Molly, when she was able to get her foot in the door in compliance with an internship at the Cornell University compliance office. 

Once she finished her internship at Cornell University, Molly accepted a position as Assistant Athletic Director/Compliance Director at Longwood University in Virginia. In her position as assistant compliance director, Molly helped the university navigate their reclassification from DII to DI. After her position at Longwood, Molly worked at Villanova University for four years as Compliance Coordinator. Her position at Villanova allowed her to pursue her current position as Senior Associate Compliance Director with the NE-10, where she has been ever since. I sat down with Molly and discussed her career in compliance and the differences between working as a conference compliance director and a compliance director at a university. Additionally, Molly provided valuable advice to aspiring students who want to pursue a career in compliance and the sports industry in general. 

Q: Did you always find yourself wanting to work in college athletics? 

When Molly was growing up, she always wanted to work for the United States Olympic Committee because she thought the Olympics was the coolest thing. However, that dream ended when she didn’t get like an internship there. Molly did not let that stop her dream to work in the sports industry, as she began her journey working in Division I athletics and then moving into Division II. She enjoys getting to wear a variety of different hats in her role with the conference.  

Q: How do you stay updated on the changing NCAA rules and regulations? Can you touch especially on the rules changing on NIL and Title IX?

Molly noted that on the Division II and III levels, there is a very similar structure when they are changing their bylaws and rules within the division. Once a year, the conference attends the NCAA convention in January, where each school and conference office gets a vote. Additionally, throughout the year, the divisions have various committees that meet to make changes to things that are deemed non-controversial. Non-controversial changes occur on the DII level when the governance committees want to change the bylaws slightly and the changes will not have a huge kind of impact. Molly stressed the importance of staying up to date on the changes the convention brings, but also the committee meetings throughout the year, because as a conference compliance director, she is responsible for informing the schools of these changes and the implications they may have on their seasons because sometimes the school compliance coordinators do not have the bandwidth to stay up to date with the changes. 

Not only does Molly have to keep up with the changes on the DII level, but she also strives to be aware of the changes on the DI level. Molly emphasizes the importance of being knowledgeable of the changes on the Division I level because it allows her to make the most informed decision on how those changes will affect the NE10 conference. This further allows her to not be taken aback by any of the changes on the DI level that may impact her on the DII level.

Q: Can you walk me through the day-to-day life of a compliance director? Do you have director interaction with the student-athletes, or do more behind-the-scenes work? 

Molly’s day-to-day life changes by the minute. She has a list of things that need to be accomplished during the day. However, working as a conference compliance director, she is responsible for assisting the member institutions on a variety of matters that come up at any moment. She further emphasizes that she never knows what to expect from her day, but that is what she enjoys about her work in compliance – making her day-to-day never boring. Other than working with conference SAAC representatives, Molly has little interaction with student-athletes as a conference compliance director, which is the downside of working in a conference office. 

Q: How much interaction do you have with lawyers? Does this change your approach compared to working with non-lawyers? 

Molly does not have a lot of interaction with attorneys in her position as conference compliance director on the DII level. She states that more attorneys work as DI compliance directors and are few and far between on the DII and DII levels. Her approach doesn’t necessarily change when she is working with attorneys, but she states that being an attorney has its benefits in compliance. It may be beneficial to be an attorney working in compliance when reading the bylaws and some of the language that it contains. Sometimes compliance directors who have a law degree lack the experience of being a student-athlete or lack the connection to athletics which might be a weakness in their ability to be successful working in athletics. Understanding athletics is easier if you have that type of connection because you can read the bylaws and understand the grey areas they present. Understanding the rationale or intent behind why the bylaws are the way they are can be helpful. 

Q: Did you take any courses in your academic career that set you up for success? If not, what would you recommend students take or get involved with to further help their careers? 

At Hartwick, Molly was able to do a senior thesis in whatever she wanted to do. She was able to write her thesis on a cost-benefit analysis of DIII schools that had DI sports only for one gender. In this thesis, she focused on the implications it had on the DIII institutions and the Title IX implications it created. Her senior thesis really solidified that she wanted to work in college athletics, where she was able to continue to take classes in her academic career at Indiana that furthered her goals.

Q: Do you have one piece of advice for someone who is coming out of school and wants to get into a career in sports?

Networking. Molly emphasized the difficulty of finding a job within the sports industry. She suggests to all students that the best way to break through is to meet as many people as you possibly can. Whether this means attending conferences or simply volunteering, it is important to get the experience and the connections early on to work in sports.

I want to thank Molly for taking the time out of her day to share her story and experiences in working in compliance. Thank you for extending your expertise and being an example to all, especially young women, that a career in sports is truly obtainable!