CLEVELAND - The National Association of Two Year College Athletic Administrators have announced that former Iowa Western Athletic Director Brenda Hampton is a part of their 2024 Hall of Fame induction class. Hampton served as Iowa Western's Athletic Director for 14 years (2002-2016). As athletics director, Hampton oversaw the expansion of Reiver athletics with the addition of men's and women's soccer, men's and women's golf, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, competitive cheerleading, football and wrestling, bringing the total number of sports offered to 21.
With the growth of the sport offerings the athletics facilities continued to expand. Football facilities were added with renovations made for locker rooms, coach's offices and meeting rooms. Two full-size football practice fields were constructed on campus. Hampton collaborated with Lewis Central High School to have artificial turf installed on the football field for Reiver home games. She helped cut the ribbon on the outdoor track and field complex and moved the athletics staff into a new home with the expansion of the athletics and physical education facilities at the Kanesville Center. Hampton also put in motion the construction of new soccer fields on campus and renovations to the softball and baseball complex.
Hampton presented a bid and was successful in bringing the NJCAA National Wrestling Championships to Council Bluffs and the Mid-America Center for three years (2016, '17, '18), in addition to the NJCAA Division I National Volleyball Tournament (2007, '08 and '09). Serving as the tournament director for both championships, Hampton worked with more than 1,000 staffers and volunteers in planning and organizing the events.
The Reivers, having a noticeable presence among two-year colleges, placed in the top four of the NATYCAA Cup (now Daktronics Cup) standings six times during Hampton's tenure, including winning the cup outright in 2013-14. Iowa Western also won the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup the same year.
During her time as AD, Hampton saw 205 student-athletes named NJCAA Academic All-American and 210 NJCAA All-Americans. Championship highlights include 19 national titles, one world championship in competitive cheerleading and numerous conference, Region XI and district titles.
A three-time NACDA Athletics Director of the Year honoree (2015, '12, '09), Hampton served as secretary of NATYCAA from 2010-16. In 2016, she was named the recipient of NATYCAA's L. William Miller Award, for demonstrating excellence in leadership, service and integrity at a two-year college. She was also a member of the NACDA Executive Committee from 2013 until her retirement in 2016. In 2022, Hampton was inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame.
About NATYCAA: Now in its 36th year, NATYCAA is the professional organization of two-year college athletics administrators and membership open to all two-year institutions from throughout the country. NATYCAA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 59th year. For more information on NACDA and the 18 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.
