The Ithaca College Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the appointment of Andrew Park as the new Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Performance. Parker will also guide IC's Peak Performance Strategy, and his first day on South Hill will be June 17.
Parker comes to Ithaca College after spending the last two years at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Ill. as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and Director of Physical Education and Forester Fitness.
While at Lake Forest, Parker was responsible for developing and implementing sport specific strength and conditioning programs for all 25 varsity athletics teams. Parker would also work with the sports medicine staff to assist in return to play protocols and injury reduction programs. Parker utilized sports science and data collection through Catapult, Jump Metrics and Dashr Timing Systems to track progress in athletic development programming.
Park was also responsible for establishing nutrition education for student-athletes and scheduling of physical education classes at the college.
Prior to joining Lake Forest, Parker worked at Hartwick College, where he had been the head strength and conditioning coach and equipment room manager since 2018. He developed and implemented strength and conditioning protocols for all 19 varsity sports at Hartwick and performed testing to ensure those protocols were being performed. Parker also supervised more than 40 student workers in the fitness center and equipment Room and managed the inventory, distribution, and record keeping of equipment.
He received Hartwick's Paul Spaziani Special Recognition Award for making a significant impact in the operation of the athletic program and an award from the school's SAAC for significant impact on student-athlete experience.
Prior to his tenure at Hartwick, Parker spent nearly three years at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he first served as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach before remaining on staff as assistant strength and conditioning coach. His experience in the field also includes a three-month internship at the Barwis Methods Training Center in Plymouth, Mich.
Parker earned a bachelor's degree in kinesiology with a concentration in fitness development from State University of New York at Cortland and his master's degree in sport and fitness administration from Winthrop. He is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach. In addition, he is Level 1 certified by USA Weightlifting and CPR/First Aid/AED certified by the American Red Cross.
