Karin Torchia
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Now in her eighth year at Rider, Karin Torchia serves as the associate director of athletics for external operations and development. In this role she is primarily responsible for the promotion and marketing of Rider’s 20 varsity sports, coordinates the department of athletics’ fund-raising, advertising and corporate sponsorship programs and plans the annual Rider Athletics Golf Gala and Hall of Fame events. Torchia also directs the department’s community relations efforts, serves as a liaison between the athletics department and various on-campus and external committees and is responsible for all television, radio and internet-based broadcasts. She also serves as the administrator to the cheerleaders, dance team, pep band, mascot, and oversees the sports information department. Torchia also acted as the volunteer coordinator for the 2006 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball First and Second Rounds co-hosted by Rider and the MAAC which was held at Trenton’s Sovereign Bank Arena. In addition to her duties within the athletics department, Torchia also teaches a freshman business seminar and serves as advisor to Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. For her efforts, she was the 2007 recipient of the university’s prestigious Nancy Gray Award honoring her outstanding institutional leadership, university spirit and community service.
Prior to joining the Rider staff in May 2000, Torchia spent five years with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). She served two years in the role of director of championships before being promoted to assistant commissioner for championships and marketing in 1997, a position she then held for three years. In those roles she was primarily responsible for the administration and operational aspects of the conference’s 24 championships. Torchia also directed the MAAC’s community relations projects consisting of the MAAC W.A.Y., MAAC Gives Back and NCAA YES Clinic programs while developing league schedules and in-season and championship policies for several sports. In addition, she coordinated the MAAC’s awards, promotions, and merchandise programs and was the meet director for the 1998 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Northeast Regional Championship.
Torchia also held the positions of administrative intern and assistant to the commissioner at the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1993-95. During that time she was responsible for the league’s official’s program, coordinated all meeting and travel arrangements, assisted the conference’s financial officer with budget management and helped with the administration of the league’s 18 championships.
Also active on the conference, regional and national levels, Torchia was a member of the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee from 1997-2001 and chaired the Northeast Regional Advisory Committee as part of that appointment. She is currently a member of the MAAC Awards Committee and the ECAC Championships Cabinet and served on the ECAC Softball Championship and All-Star selection committees from 1997-2000.
A resident of Newtown, Pennsylvania, Torchia earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management and a master’s degree in sports administration from West Virginia University where she spent three years as a member of the women’s lacrosse team and worked as a student assistant and graduate intern in the sports communications office.
