PELLA—Central College President Mark Putnam has appointed Eric Van Kley to the new position of vice president for athletics.
           
Van Kley has served as the college's athletics director since 2012 and as head wrestling coach since 2007. With his expanded duties, Van Kley will give up his coaching responsibilities.
           
"Athletics has long served as an integral co-curricular component of a Central education and is part of the fabric of the college's history," Putnam said. "Central now serves more than 700 student-athletes each year. As the athletics landscape continues to evolve and the program's impact on the life of the college grows, the leadership demands, challenges and opportunities are expanding exponentially.
           
"Elevating this position to the vice presidential level is reflective of that. But it is also reflective of the energy and vision Eric is providing as the program's leader. Central is highly regarded for its role in the growth of NCAA Division III, particularly with regard to the development of women's athletics as well as the articulation of the original Division III philosophy. And Eric has done nothing but enhance Central's athletics reputation during his tenure. He has grown steadily in his position and continues to take on responsibilities that far exceed those of a traditional athletics director. It is time that we recognize that."
           

Putnam noted that Van Kley helped oversee the Forever Dutch® initiative, an $18 million renovation and expansion of P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium completed in 2021, as well as the more recent renovation of the Ron Schipper Fitness Center in 2023. He also orchestrated a new athletics branding initiative throughout the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex, helped the college's athletics teams navigate the global pandemic and effectively taken on a growing role in athletics fundraising
           
Van Kley, who served as athletics director and head wrestling coach at the University of Great Falls (Mont.) before arriving at Central, will become a member of the college's Senior Leadership Team after having served the team in a steadily increasing capacity in recent years. In addition to providing strategic budget planning and financial oversight, Van Kley will devote increased time to fostering relationships with the college's supporters and helping raise funds for continued development of the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex. He'll work with the advancement office in developing corporate support while teaming with the enrollment management staff in helping create and implement recruitment strategies. He also wants to invest more of his workdays and nights in mentoring and supporting coaches and staff, supporting and interacting with student-athletes and providing an enthusiastic presence at Central events.
           
"I'm honored by the confidence President Putnam has shown in me and excited about the vision he has for Central and our athletics program," Van Kley said. "I have such great respect for Central's athletics heritage and those that have preceded me in leading Central's athletics program, such as Babe Tysseling and Coach (Ron) Schipper as well as Al Dorenkamp, who was the athletics director who brought me here and taught me so much. I've also been blessed to learn from the wisdom of (the late Central president) Ken Weller, one of the most respected leaders ever in Division III, and I was proud to call him a friend.
           
"I cherish the relationships I've developed here with so many of the college's students, alumni, trustees, friends and staff members and am eager to get to know others as we share Central's remarkable story. I believe, with President Putnam's continued leadership and support, we can take Central athletics to new heights."
           
As wrestling coach, Van Kley inherited a Dutch program with a powerful tradition that was enduring some challenges. His first squad in 2007-08 posted a 0-15-1 dual record and had just four healthy wrestlers available to compete at the conference tournament, only one of whom won a tournament match.
           
He's since built a program that has grown to more than 40 wrestlers in some seasons and returned it to national prominence while now being housed in a spacious new wrestling training center in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. The Dutch were 12-4 in duals this year and had a pair of national tourney qualifiers at the NCAA Division III Championships in La Crosse, Wisconsin this past weekend. They were ranked in the top-20 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll throughout the season and have a promising group of young wrestlers fueling optimism for 2024-25. Van Kley helped Central win two Division III Central Region Coaching Staff of the Year Awards in the past five seasons, sending at least one wrestler to the national tournament each of the past 14 years. Central wrestlers have also earned NWCA Scholar All-America distinction 39 times in the past nine years.
           
"I've been a wrestling coach throughout my professional life," Van Kley. "Giving that up is extremely difficult, especially as excited as I am about the guys we have returning for next season and the ones we are bringing in. At the same time, that makes this a perfect time to turn things over to a new head coach because I know the program is in excellent shape and in position to do some really exciting things in the future. While sharing this news with our team is among the most difficult things I've ever done, I did so knowing that the new coach can put his entire focus on providing these young men the guidance and support they need to help them reach their goals.
           
"And I'm not going away. I remain committed to being there for each of them as well, just as I will be for every one of Central's student-athletes. Serving them remains my No. 1 priority."
          
 A Rock Valley, Iowa native, Van Kley is an honors graduate of Minnesota State University-Mankato, where he was a three-time letterwinner and served as team captain. He received a master's degree at Duquesne University (Pa.). He was also an assistant coach at The Dalles (Ore.) High School and Millersville University before taking over as the first head coach at Great Falls. In the program's first three seasons, he led the team to three top-10 NAIA national finishes and had wrestlers receive all-America distinction 13 times. He was named the NAIA West Region Coach of the Year in 2007.
           
Van Kley is a respected voice on the national level. He served four years on the NCAA Division III Wrestling Committee, including a year as chair and served a year as president of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. He spent eight years working with the U.S. Cadet and Junior National Greco-Roman tournament, spending a year as head coach of the Iowa squad.
           
A search for a new head wrestling coach is already underway, Van Kley said.