Chris Spells joins UC Santa Cruz as the Director of Athletics & Recreation in his first year, after serving at Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS), and Division I Stanford on both the Athletics and Recreation fronts while at both institutions.
Most recently, Spells worked at CMS Athletics, where he served in multiple positions over his eight years there. Most recently, Spells was the Assistant Athletic Director for Facility Operations, Recreation, & Engagement at CMS. Arriving at CMS in August 2016, Spells was hired as the Director of Recreation within the CMS Athletics Department. In that capacity, Spells was tasked with the opening of Roberts Pavilion, a competition arena and recreation center sized at 150,000 square feet. Spells also oversaw the implementation of Group Fitness classes and handled supervision of the CMS Intramural Sports and Sport Clubs program areas. In 2022, Spells was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Facility Operations, Recreation and Engagement. In that role, Spells oversaw game day and daily operations for all 21 varsity sports and in addition to overseeing recreational programming on campus. Spells also served as tournament director when CMS hosted NCAA regional and national championship events. The school most recently hosted the final eight of the 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball championship. Spells was also on the department's Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Belonging committee, as the chair for the Student-Athlete Engagement subcommittee.
Prior to CMS, Spells worked at Stanford University, within the Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation, most recently as the Assistant Director for Facilities and
Operations in 2016. After starting as an intern in 2011, Spells opened two new facilities on the Stanford Campus, the first being the Arrillaga Recreation Center at SLAC, and then the Arrillaga Outdoor Education and Recreation Center. Prior to taking on that role, within Recreation and Operations, Spells worked as the lead event management within Athletic Operations, and helped oversee game day operations for all 36 varsity teams.
In June of 2023, Spells was selected to the NCAA Pathways program. This program is designed by the NCAA Leadership Development team to elevate senior-level athletics administrators from Division I, II, and III to the next step as directors of athletics or conference commissioners. After a year-long work alongside the cohort and the program facilitators, Spells graduated in June 2024 from the program. Moving forward, Spells is excited to be serving the community here at UCSC, is focusing on creating the best possible experience for all students, faculty and staff members within the UCSC community , and continuing to elevate both Athletics and Recreation on campus, in our community, and on the national level. GO SLUGS!!!
