Longtime USF Athletics administrator is a trailblazer for women in sports
TAMPA, Feb. 1, 2021 – USF Athletics celebrates the career and achievements of longtime athletics administrator Barbara Sparks-McGlinchy and her role as a trailblazer for women’s sports. The 35th Annual National Girls & Women in Sports Day will be celebrated on Wednesday.
The annual day of observance held during the first week of February each year acknowledges the accomplishments of female athletes, recognizes the influence of sports participation for women and girls, and honors the progress and continuing struggle for equality for women in sports.
Sparks-McGlinchy was recognized Saturday on the USF campus prior to the start of USF’s defending American Conference Champion women’s soccer team’s game at Corbett Stadium. Sparks-McGlinchy oversaw the introduction of women’s soccer to USF in 1995. The program has now won four conference titles, including three-straight in The American (2017, 18, 19) under head coach Denise Schilte-Brown.
“Barbara’s contribution to USF Athletics cannot be overstated and I can’t think of a more appropriate person for us to recognize on Girls and Women in Sports Day,” Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said. “I had the pleasure of working with Barbara daily during my first tenure at USF and have tremendous respect and gratitude for her contributions to Bulls Athletics overall and in particular and outstanding women’s programs.”
Sparks-McGlinchy served as a member of USF Athletics staff for 26 years (1982-2008), serving as senior associate athletics director from 1998-2008. She began as business manager before becoming an assistant athletic director and an administrator for numerous Bulls programs, including baseball, sailing, men’s soccer, softball and volleyball. She also oversaw athletics units in academic support, strength and conditioning and sport medicine during her tenure and took the helm as interim director of athletics on two occasions.
During Sparks-McGlinchy’s tenure, USF added women’s cross country, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s soccer, women’s sailing and football and the program competed in four different conferences, including the Big EAST, Conference USA, Metro and Sun Belt.
She was an integral part of the team that planned, designed and oversaw construction of the Athletics Training Facility and was Athletics’ liaison to the USF Board of Trustees Academics and Campus Environment Workgroup.
Sparks-McGlinchy was selected to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Business and Finance Cabinet in 1997 and was a part of the cabinet’s marketing committee. She represented USF on the State Council on Equity in Athletics for more than 15 years and served as chair of the Finance Committee for the Council. She also served on the Big East Conference Championships and Competitions Committee, was a member of the conference’s men’s soccer committee and was the chair of the Conference USA Senior Woman Administrators (1999-2000).
A graduate of USF with a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in guidance and counselor education, Sparks-McGlinchy later served as an adjunct instructor at USF. She currently serves on the Women in Leadership & Philanthropy Board of Directors at USF, co-chaired USF’s mentoring committee this past year and has served on Board of Directors for the Bulls Varsity Club.
About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 55th season in 2020-21. Nearly 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 19 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, and own 120 conference titles overall. The Bulls posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for the fifth straight year in 2019-20 and have posted a program record 12 straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0. USF has had nearly 400 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
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