The Community Commitment division in the Department of Athletics will be a model program for extending the Holy Cross mission and the impact of collegiate sport through service to, and engagement of others. In keeping with our five core pillars of Community, Excellence, Education, Tradition and Faith, we will strategically focus our efforts on those initiatives that align with them.
Maureen McNamara
Maureen McNamara is in her sixth year as assistant athletics director at Notre Dame. Last September, she added community commitment and special events to her resume.
A former division I student-athlete and coach, McNamara is entering her 26th year as a member of the athletics department staff. In her current role, her responsibilities include strategic oversight of a comprehensive community outreach plan, as well as the summer camps program and staff, hosting more than 10,000 guests annually. In addition, she serves as the primary liaison for special events within the athletics department.
Prior to 2014, she served in a leadership position within the athletics external affairs division. In August 2009, she was promoted to assistant athletics director after serving as a director and then executive director in that division. As liaison to the University’s central development office, McNamara helped raise funding for expendable and endowed scholarships as well as capital projects. In May 2010, her role expanded to include additional management oversight responsibilities in all aspects of athletics external affairs including the Rockne Heritage Fund, Director’s Circle Recognition Society, and the Joyce Grants-in-Aid program.
McNamara collaborated with the University’s central development office in an $84 million athletics fundraising initiative for the Spirit of Notre Dame campaign (2004-11). The athletics department was included in the campaign for the first time in the history of the University. An increase in expendable and endowed scholarships led to a great transformation of Notre Dame’s athletics physical plant with the addition of four new facilities: Alumni Stadium for soccer; Arlotta Stadium for lacrosse; Melissa Cook Stadium for softball and the Compton Family Ice Arena for hockey.
McNamara was responsible for the planning and dedication of the Castellan Family Fencing Center in the fall of 2012, a state-of-the-art collegiate facility. She serves as the sport administrator for the men’s and women’s varsity fencing programs, working with head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia and his staff in that capacity.
Throughout her career, McNamara has represented the athletics department on several University Relations committees, and served on the 2011 bowl committee. She was most recently invited to serve on the University’s Community Engagement Coordinating Council as well as the United Way Committee. McNamara is a member of the NCAA National Fencing Committee, chair of the NCAA Midwest Fencing Committee, and vice chair of the Atlantic Coast Conference Fencing Committee.
Prior to assuming her duties in the external affairs division, McNamara served six years as manager, and then director, of corporate relations and the University’s summer sports camp program. In September, 2000 she organized, coordinated and hosted 55 corporate parties and more than 10,000 guests, prior to the Notre Dame-Nebraska football game at Notre Dame Stadium. During that same time period, McNamara served as the athletics department’s liaison to NBC Sports.
McNamara first joined the University as assistant women’s tennis coach in January 1990 under head coach Jay Louderback and served on his staff until fall, 1997. During her coaching tenure, Notre Dame captured five Midwestern Collegiate Conference titles and two BIG EAST crowns. The Irish earned four NCAA Championship berths, including a regional final appearance in 1996. That squad finished sixth in the country, the program’s first top-10 final ranking after its elevation to NCAA Division I status.
McNamara spent two of those coaching years earning her master’s degree from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, graduating magna cum laude in 1996.
A native of Peoria, Illinois, she held two positions with the Xerox Corporation and Abbott Laboratories in Chicago in the five years prior to arriving at Notre Dame. A graduate of the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, McNamara earned four varsity letters as a member of the Illini women’s tennis program and twice earned selection as the team’s most valuable player. In 1992, former and current Illini athletes in all sports voted her to the University of Illinois Women’s Tennis Team of the Decade.
Edward Beven
Ed Beven is in his 9th year as a member of the athletics administration at the University of Notre Dame and currently serves as Community Initiatives and Camps Program Coordinator.
Beven oversees the community outreach initiatives on behalf of the Athletics Department including activation and involvement on the Notre Dame campus, as well as development and implementation of a plan for local, regional, and national outreach.
In direct collaboration with the Camps Program Coordinator, Beven also manages the operation of a multi-million dollar camp office, and is responsible for hiring over 600 camp counselors each year. He serves as liaison to18 different varsity coaching staffs, and multiple other campus entities including Risk Management, Office of Housing, Dining Services, Security and Police, Human Resources, Athletics Business Office and Transportation Services. He assists with the establishment of the summer schedule for 18 different sports with an offering of over 50 camp sessions, attracting over 10,000 campers each summer. Beven oversees the reservation of facilities and housing for the entire camp organization.
Beven served as Facility Coordinator in the Recreational Sports division from 2010-15. In that role, he hired, trained and evaluated the student staff, assisted with special events, instructed CPR and First Aid classes, and scheduled facility space for both Rolfs Sports Recreation Center and Rockne Memorial Gym.
Prior to that, Beven served as a graduate assistant for intramural sports at Western Michigan University. In 2007-08, he completed an internship in the Athletics Department at Notre Dame.
A 2007 Indiana University graduate with a degree in General Studies, Beven went on to earn a Masters Degree in Sports Management from Western Michigan University in 2010.
Austin Oosterhoff
Austin Oosterhoff is in his 1st year as a member of the athletics administration at the University of Notre Dame and currently serves as the Camps/Community Initiatives and Olympic Facility Program Director.
Oosterhoff manages the operation of a multi-million dollar camp office, and is responsible for hiring over 600 camp counselors each year. He serves as a liaison to 18 different varsity coaching staffs, and multiple other campus entities including Risk Management, Office of Housing, Dining Services, Security and Police, Transportation Services, Human Resources, and Athletics Business Office. He assists with the coordination of the summer camp schedule which includes 18 varsity sports offering over 50 camp session in total, bringing nearly 10,000 campers to campus each summer. Oosterhoff also oversees the reservation of facilities and housing for the entire camp organization.
In direct collaboration with the Community Commitment Program Director, Oosterhoff assists with community outreach initiatives on behalf of the Athletics Department including activation and involvement on the Notre Dame Campus, as well as development and implementation of a plan for local, regional, and national outreach.
Prior to joining Notre Dame Athletics full-time in 2018, Oosterhoff was an Account Manager at Press Ganey, Associates in South Bend. He began at Notre Dame in May of 2015 as an academic intern and was in a part-time support staff role from 2015-2017.
Oosterhoff graduated in 2015 from Ball State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Sport Administration.