Ball State University Director of Athletics Beth Goetz today was recognized by Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) as one of the publication’s 2021 “Women of Influence.”
Each year, IBJ’s “Women of Influence” program recognizes successful women from central Indiana, both in the public and private sectors, who have risen to the highest levels of business, the arts, and community and public service.
Ms. Goetz was nominated as a 2021 “Women of Influence” by Ball State University President Geoffrey S. Mearns.
“I am grateful that IBJ has selected Beth Goetz for this well-deserved honor,” President Mearns said. “Since arriving at Ball State, Beth has led our programs to greater success in competition and in the classroom, and she continued to raise the profile of our University. She is a confident leader who is committed to infusing passion and pride in our student-athletes, our alumni, and our fans.”
Ms. Goetz said she is grateful to President Mearns for his continued support and his nomination for the award. “To be selected for inclusion in this year’s class of talented, determined women is an honor I will always remember,” she said.
Since becoming Ball State’s director of athletics in 2018, Ms. Goetz has helped Ball State’s athletics program excel, both on and off the field.
Over the past academic year, Ball State student-athletes across all sports programs achieved their best academic performances in the University’s history. Competitively this past year, Ball State had its best showing in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Reese Trophy (men’s sports) standings in eight years, and its best Jacoby Trophy (women’s sports) finish in more than a decade. These standings are determined by collective competitive success for all men’s and women’s sports programs.
Ms. Goetz also led the creation of a five-year strategic plan for Ball State Athletics, and she was instrumental to the completion of the University’s $15 million Scheumann Family Indoor Practice Facility, which was financed entirely with private donations.
On July 29, 2021, the NCAA announced that Ms. Goetz has been named vice chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee for the 2021-22 academic year; she will take over as chair in 2022-23.
Prior to arriving at Ball State, Ms. Goetz held leadership roles in the athletics divisions at the University of Connecticut, University of Minnesota, Butler University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she was head coach of the women’s soccer team.
In college, Ms. Goetz was an accomplished Division I student-athlete, playing soccer at Clemson University and earning All-America recognition at Brevard College (N.C.), where she was inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame in 2017. Ms. Goetz earned an associate of arts from Brevard in 1994 and a bachelor of arts from Clemson in 1996. She received her master’s degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2000.
Other recent IBJ “Women of Influence” honorees from Ball State have included Jennifer Bott (2017) and Susana Rivera-Mills (2019).