By ASHLEY WATTS, Sports Editor
Over the summer, Northwestern Oklahoma State University hired a new Assistant Athletic Director for Communications to be the primary contact for ranger football, baseball, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s cross country.
Chris Maple was working at a call center because his job as the Assistant Sports Information Director at Oklahoma City University ended in June. Maple then got a call from Brad Franz to come interview at Northwestern, and he got the job a few days later. He took over the position as the Assistant Athletic Director for Communications in August.
“We are excited to have Chris join the program. He brings a wealth of knowledge to Ranger Athletics in the communications department,” said Franz, Director of Athletics at Northwestern. “He understands the Great American Conference and all the coaches are excited to work with him.”
Maple is a 2016 graduate of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where he earned his bachelor’s in recreation, and is currently working on his master’s in business in sports management. His job includes updating the riderangersride website, conducting interviews, designing the posters for each sport and keeping up with stats.
“I am most looking forward to working with all the athletic programs to provide a quality production of their season and promote the athletes to the best of my ability,” Maple said.
While at Northwestern, Maple will not only be in charge of all of the athletic media, but he will oversee two graduate assistants, one student assistant and multiple student workers.
“Chris is awesome,” said Madison Parrot, a graduate assistant for Chris. “My favorite thing is he actually takes our ideas into consideration and he is organized.”
Maple started his career in athletic communications during his time at Murray State College from 2009-2012. There, he was the Director of Operations for the baseball program. Not only did Maple work in athletic communications at Murray State, but he also graduated from there in 2012 with an associate degree.
“This job is fantastic and it is a family friendly environment,” Maple said. “I am just finishing week three and I really like it here at Northwestern.”