July 15, 2011
It is rare in this day and age to work at the same place for 30 years, and rarer still to accomplish the feat in collegiate athletics. In that time, it is inevitable that you will see change, be a part of the change and even change yourself. During Dee Abrahamson's 32-year career at Northern Illinois University, she has seen her fair share of change at the university, in the athletic department, in her sport and in her role at NIU.
A native of Wilmette, Ill., Abrahamson arrived on campus in August of 1979 to take over the Huskie softball program. Abrahamson's early years at NIU marked an early period of growth for women's intercollegiate sports. Title IX had been enacted in 1972. In 1979, many of Abrahamson's players were two-sport athletes playing either volleyball or field hockey in the fall and softball in the spring, and she shared an assistant coach with a fall sport. The only time the team could practice in the gym at Anderson Hall was from 11 p.m.-1 a.m.
Despite the challenges, the Huskies enjoyed some success early on under Abrahamson. Northern Illinois posted three winning seasons in her first five years, including a 30-win season in 1982. It wasn't until the softball team was able to practice in Chick Evans Field House that the program begin to enjoy a little more success.
"Well, when we got to move into the Field House, there was a period of time where we had prime time in the field house, because we had no baseball program," Abrahamson said. "So, all a sudden, instead of 11 p.m.-1 a.m., we could practice from 3-6 p.m. Well, our student-athletes got better. It wasn't because I was smarter, it was just a better situation and we started winning more games."
Abrahamson (middle row left) coached the 1988 NIU softball team to the Women's College World Series.
In 1988, the NIU softball program enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history. The Huskies opened the season by winning 10 of their first 11 games and put together a 16-game winning streak at the end of the year. Those wins propelled NIU to the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament where the Huskies defeated Bowling Green and Illinois State to win the regional to advance to the Women's College World Series in Sunnyvale, Calif.
However, Northern Illinois' trip to California would be short-lived. The Huskies suffered a 1-0 setback to national power UCLA and saw its run in the tournament come to an end after falling to Texas A&M, 3-0. NIU finished the season 35-11.
The Huskies followed up that season with a 38-7, winning their first 14 games and closing out the campaign with a 13-game winning streak.
"Certainly, the 1988 and 1989 seasons are two of my favorite memories. In '88, we went to the World Series," she said. "In '89, we had probably a better team than we did in '88, but we didn't get a chance to go for political reasons. But those were two really good years that are very satisfying.
"There were a lot of years that I probably coached better or did more, but you don't always get to see the fruits of your labor and it was nice to see the student-athletes enjoy the success that they worked so hard for."
Abrahamson coached softball for five more seasons, recording a 33-25-2 mark in 1992 and posting a 40-18 record in 1993. Overall, she coached the Huskies for 15 seasons and finished her coaching career with a 416-287-5 record for a .592 winning percentage.
Abrahamson is the second winningest softball coach in NIU history.
Following the 1994 season, Abrahamson was presented with an opportunity that would change her career path.
When NIU's associate athletic director at the time, Cary Groth, was promoted to Director of Athletics she approached Abrahamson about leaving the coaching profession and moving into administration. In the end, Abrahamson felt she could make a bigger impact on more lives by stepping away from coaching.
"Honestly, it was totally unexpected. It was a case of right place at the right time," she said. "I was very happy coaching. Really, the decision came down to, do I want to coach student-athletes playing softball, or do I want to coach coaches.
"I could coach coaches and instead of impacting 22 student-athletes, I could impact 100, because I could work with five coaches who each have 20 [student-athletes] too."
During her 17 years as an administrator from 1994-2011, Abrahamson oversaw several different units within the athletics department and rose from assistant athletic director to Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator for NIU Athletics. She also had oversight responsibilities for 12 sports during her tenure, working with baseball, volleyball, gymnastics and women's tennis the past few years.
While she was no longer leading a team to conference championships and NCAA bids, she found gratification in the programs she helped build.
"The start of the freshman orientation class is something I really enjoyed doing," said Abrahamson. "We didn't have one before [I became an associate athletic director]. I also had a chance to work with an associate dean to create a class for our student-athletes and was able to teach it for a couple of years. That was a blast for me because I had just gotten out of coaching, so I didn't have the constant contact with student-athletes that I was used to."
Despite leaving the sport as a coach, Abrahamson stayed involved with softball, serving as the NCAA Softball Secretary Rules editor since 1996. Her responsibilities included all rule interpretations, editing the annual rule book, and organizing educational programs for coaches and umpires. She also served as the liaison to the National Federation of High Schools and Amateur Softball Association, which is the National Governing Board for the sport.
"It's been a pretty interesting journey for the sport to try and get its own niche, its own notoriety, and to become what it is now through many, many changes," she said. "Some of the changes are rule-based, some are equipment-based, some are student-athlete preparation and what they get a chance to learn now from tee-ball and whether they grew up in little league, or softball association.
"Their high school coaches are better equipped to help them. So by the time today's softball players get to college, they have a lot more basic skills under their belt and you get to work on the more advanced stuff, so I think that's all changed in 30 years."
As she reflects on her tenure at Northern Illinois, Abrahamson is proud of what she has been able to accomplish and how far the university has come in her 30-plus years of service. She hopes that she was able to make a difference in people's lives.
"Hopefully, I made an impact on a lot of people," said Abrahamson of her career at NIU. "Whether they're coaches or student-athletes, or people you just ran into in the hall and you were able to make a difference for them."
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