Helping Student-Athletes Be Successful
Serving as the Averett University Director of Athletics since July 2013 and promoted to the Vice President and Director of Athletics and Campus Operations in September 2020, Meg Stevens has transformed the culture of Averett athletics. Stevens has collaborated with faculty, student-athletes and staff to develop and strengthen a “3-2-1” philosophy that has pushed Averett to new heights. Under her direction, all teams strive to achieve a 3.0 grade point average, finish in the top two in the conference, and the entire athletics department works together as “one team.”
Stevens’ “3-2-1” philosophy has paid dividends. In her first 11 years as Director of Athletics, Averett has won 16 conference championships and produced 339 all-conference selections, including 18 players of the year, 14 rookies of the year and 10 coaches of the year in the conference. Moreover, her impact has been felt on both a regional and national level as her student-athletes have achieved 80 all-region selections and 31 All-America achievements. On Sept. 1, 2020, Stevens was named the Nike Division III Administrator of the Year by the Women Leaders in College Sports, and on March 10, 2021, Stevens was named among NACDA's 2020-21 Athletics Directors of the Year.
Academically, Stevens’ influence has helped produce 1,045 academic all-conference selections, 78 Academic All-District achievements and 10 Academic All-America accomplishments that include the 2017-18 College Sports Communicators’ Academic All-America of the Year Samm Chandler.
Furthermore, Stevens pushes her student-athletes to produce not only in the classroom and in the arena of athletics competition, but also in the community as well through various community service and professional development projects. Averett won a record six consecutive USA South Athletic Conference’s “Cans Across the Conference” competitions and a record four USA South “Pennies for a Purpose” campaigns, then won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s Cans Competition in 2023. In addition, Averett produced three Don Scalf Award winners and three Rita Wiggs Woman of the Year Award recipients while under Stevens’ direction during Averett’s membership in the USA South. Since joining the ODAC in July 2022, Averett has produced two selections for the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete of the Year for specific sports.
Under Stevens leadership, Averett’s Special Olympics initiatives have gained national recognition as the university’s Department of Athletics has taken home several national awards from National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators and Jostens, including the “Array of Projects” award in 2016 for the 2014-15 academic year, the “One-Time Activity or Project” Award of Merit for the 2016-17 academic year as well third place in 2020 for “outstanding efforts” with Averett’s annual Special Olympics Fall Fun Day. Additionally, Averett athletics has won three NCAA Division III Special Olympics spotlight polls to earn money for future Special Olympics events.
Stevens also takes great pride in her leadership within Averett having coordinated a partnership with Nike and BSN Sports to equip all student-athletes with Nike gear along with helping to strengthen Averett's branding and reach within the Danville community.
Growing and Leading Averett Athletics
Stevens’ open lines of communication and open door policy have made her a trustworthy role model for Averett student-athletes and graduate assistants, and her caring and compassionate approach has energized and stabilized her department into one of the top in all of Division III athletics.
She oversees 24 intercollegiate athletics programs and two club varsity sports. She supervises more than 60 individuals that make up the Department of Athletics staff, including administrators, coaches, facility and sports performance staff as well as sports medicine and sports communications staffers. She also serves on the university’s President’s Council and other university committees, as well as supervises Averett athletics’ Circle of Champions and Team Averett fundraising efforts.
Since her arrival, Stevens has added eight NCAA-sponsored sports including men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s wrestling, women's golf and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field, as well as dance as a club varsity sport. The growth of Averett's athletics footprint during Stevens' tenure led to the Cougars' invitation to join the prestigious Old Dominion Athletic Conference, beginning in the 2022-23 academic year. Additionally, she has assisted with several facility constructions, expansions and upgrades around Averett, including the development of Frank R. Campbell Stadium, the addition of an indoor batting facility and the renovation of Carrington Gymnasium. During her time, she has been influential in renovations and facility upgrades to the Grant Center, Owen-Fulton Field and other athletics facilities.
Mentoring Future Leaders
Stevens’ devotion to the professional development of coaches, graduate assistants, support staff and student-athletes can be felt within her department through various captains and leadership programs to professional development opportunities through the NCAA and other organizations. She has helped send several student-athletes and coaches to various conventions and conferences since her arrival, including the NCAA Division III Immersion Program at the national convention and NCAA Career in Sports Forum.
Stevens is well respected by her colleagues and peers having been asked to be the keynote speaker at the NCAA Emerging Leadership Symposium for six straight years and has been a presenter at the Women Leaders Convention on several occasions as well as the NCAA Career in Sports Forum, NACDA Convention and many other NCAA conferences.
Additionally, Stevens is known for her commitment to hiring, mentoring and developing young head coaches. In fact, nearly all of her head coach hires have been first-time head coaches, and she has promoted a half dozen former Averett graduate assistant coaches into head coaching roles. Many of Averett’s graduate assistant coaches and staff have gone on to become head coaches or full-time assistant coaches in all levels of athletics.
Stevens has also served on the board of directors for Women Leaders in Sports, including a one-year term as president of Women Leaders beginning in fall 2023. She has also served on the board for the Boys and Girls Club of Danville while also being a strong advocate for both women and minority leaders in sports.
Offering More than 20 Years of Experience in Administration, Coaching and Service
Prior to coming to Averett, Stevens served as Buffalo State’s assistant director of athletics from 2009-13 and spent 11 years as the women’s lacrosse head coach, director of the CHAMPS/Life Skills Program and as the advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She also served as Buffalo State's senior woman administrator for two years.
As assistant director of athletics at Buffalo State, Stevens helped elevate student-athlete prominence on campus and in the community through increased community service efforts. She also served as an advisor for several major athletics facilities projects and executed an extensive fundraising initiative for the lacrosse program.
In addition to her administrative duties at Buffalo State, Stevens achieved success on the field, building her lacrosse program into a perennial contender. In 11 seasons at Buffalo State, she accumulated an overall record of 109-65 (.626) and led the Bengals to the State University of New York Athletic Conference postseason six of her last eight years. In 2012, her team finished ranked in the top 20 and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance. She is a two-time SUNYAC Coach of the Year and was the U.S. Lacrosse Regional Coach of the Year in 2004.
Prior to her time at Buffalo State, Stevens interned as a special events coordinator with the Women’s Sports Foundation and with the Eastern College Athletic Association. Additionally, she served as a chair for the NCAA's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a member of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics, the NCAA Division III Task Force and the Cortland Intercollegiate Athletics Board. As a player at Cortland, she helped the Red Dragons to three consecutive SUNYAC championships as well as three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2024, Stevens was inducted into the Western New York Chapter of USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
A native of Delmar, N.Y., Stevens received her bachelor's degree in recreation and leisure management with a minor in sports management from SUNY Cortland and earned her master's degree in student personnel administration from Buffalo State.
