Irma Garcia

Irma Garcia was the athletics director at St. Francis College up until the school disbanded its entire athletics program following the 2022–23 school year. When she took the job in 2007, Garcia was the country's first Latina athletic director in NCAA Division I sports.[4][5]

For the teacher killed in a school shooting, see Robb Elementary School shooting.
Irma Garcia
Current position
TitleAthletic director
Biographical details
Alma materSt. Francis College (B.S.)
Brooklyn College (M.S.)
Playing career
1976–1980St. Francis Brooklyn
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1999St. Francis Brooklyn
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1999–2007St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers (Associate AD)
2007–2023St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers
Head coaching record
Overall68–228
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
1998 NEC Coach of the Year[1]
2009 ECAC Katherine Ley Award Winner[2]
2015 NACWAA D1 (FCS) Administrator of the Year[3]

Early life and education

Garcia was raised in a Catholic-Puerto Rican family in Brooklyn and has seven siblings.[5] She attended St. Angela Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York. In 1976, she enrolled in St. Francis College and played women's basketball for coach Dianne Nolan.[2] Upon graduation in 1980, Garcia taught physical education and coached girls' basketball at St. Joseph by the Sea High School on Staten Island.[2] In 1988, she returned to be the head coach at St. Francis College. After 11 seasons, she stopped coaching and was hired as the associate athletics director. In 2001, while she was the associate athletic director at St. Francis, Garcia earned her master's degree from Brooklyn College in sports administration.

Head coaching career
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
St. Francis (NY) (NEC) (1988–1999)
1988–89 St. Francis (NY) 3–24
1989–90 St. Francis (NY) 6–20
1990–91 St. Francis (NY) 5–22
1991–92 St. Francis (NY) 1–26
1992–93 St. Francis (NY) 3–23
1993–94 St. Francis (NY) 9–198th
1994–95 St. Francis (NY) 12–168th
1995–96 St. Francis (NY) 3–2310th
1996–97 St. Francis (NY) 5–2210th
1997–98 St. Francis (NY) 11–165th
1998–99 St. Francis (NY) 10–177th
Irma Garcia: 68–228 (.230)39–151 (.205)
Total:68–228 (.230)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Administrative career

In 2007, Garcia became the athletic director of the Terriers replacing longtime director Edward Aquilone. At the time of her hire and as of 2010, she was the country's only female Latina athletic director in Division I sports.[4][5] For the 2014–15 academic year, Garcia was named NACWAA D1 (FCS) Administrator of the Year.[3] The award was in part because of the Terriers success in Men's Soccer (NEC Champions and NCAA Tournament Participants), Men's Basketball (NEC Regular Season Champions and NIT Participants) and Women's Basketball (NEC Champions and NCAA Tournament Participants).

During Garcia's tenure as director of athletic the St. Francis College Athletics program changed their brand from St. Francis (NY) to St. Francis Brooklyn.[6] The College previously came to be known as St. Francis (NY) when the athletics program joined the Division I Northeast Conference in 1981. In 2018 it was announced that women's soccer[7] and men's volleyball[8] would be added as sports programs to the existing 19 teams at St. Francis College. Both teams will begin play in the 2019–20 school year, with women's soccer starting in fall 2019 and men's volleyball in spring 2020.

References
  1. "NEC Women's Basketball Record Book 1986-2010" (PDF). NortheastConference.org. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  2. "IRMA GARCIA NAMED 2009 ECAC KATHERINE LEY AWARD WINNER - St. Francis Brooklyn Athletics". Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  3. "Irma Garcia Named NACWAA D1 (FCS) Administrator of the Year". sfcathletics.com. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. "St. Francis AD had a vision for her future". ESPN. 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  5. Wassef, Mira (December 4, 2007). "Unheralded heights: St. Francis AD Irma Garcia is Division I pioneer". Daily News. New York. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  6. "St. Francis College Athletics is Now St. Francis Brooklyn". SFCathletics.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  7. "Women's Soccer to Become Terriers 21st NCAA Division I Team". sfcathletics.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  8. "St. Francis (NY) announces the addition of men's volleyball program". ncaa.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
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