Beth Bass became Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) on Nov. 1, 2001. Only the second individual to assume this position in the 27-year history of the WBCA, Bass is the successor of Betty F. Jaynes who retired in November 2000 from the organization she helped found. Bass assumed the role of CEO of the organization as originally stipulated during her hire by the WBCA Board of Directors in late 1996. She originally joined the WBCA in January 1997 as Executive Director.
As Chief Executive Officer, Bass administers all operational affairs for the WBCA, which boasts more than 5,000 members, including coaches and leaders in women’s and girls’ basketball both nationally and internationally. Bass oversees all marketing endeavors of the Atlanta-based Association. She also manages the non-profit organization’s $3 million annual budget, all WBCA programs and services, and supervises the national office staff, which consists of 14 full-time staff members and 6 interns. She is also charged with overseeing the WBCA’s external affairs as she takes on a more active role with affiliate organizations such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) and USA Basketball.
The WBCA Board of Directors hired Bass after a highly successful tenure in the sports and fitness industry. With experience as a women’s basketball and women’s sports marketing executive at Converse Inc. and NIKE, Inc., Bass has been a catalyst for corporate support of women’s basketball for more than 10 years. As CEO, Bass sits on several boards and committees that include the following:
• USA Basketball Board of Directors
• Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Directors
• President Myles Brand’s NCAA Women’s Basketball Discussion Group Participant
• McDonald’s Girl’s High School All-American Game Advisory Board
• Ex-Officio for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Issues Committee
• Atlanta Tip Off Club Advisory Board
• National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Board of Director
• Naismith Hall of Fame Board of Trustees
• Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund Board of Director
At NIKE, Bass specialized in the firm’s women’s basketball sports marketing endeavors, including coaching endorsements, the WBCA High School All-America Game, the inaugural Nike Girls All-America Camp, and the Coaches’ Extravaganza at the WBCA National Convention. Prior to NIKE, Bass served as National Sports Marketing Director at Converse from 1986 through 1995, during which time she cultivated Converse’s women’s basketball marketing endeavors including the renowned Converse/WBCA Coach of the Year Award.
Bass’ experience at Converse was not limited to women’s athletics. She coordinated several marketing and merchandise programs geared toward the global basketball audience. These efforts encompassed basketball at a variety of levels including recreational basketball with “Hoop it Up”, men’s college basketball with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and professional basketball with the NBA’s All-Star Weekend.
A native of Hartsville, South Carolina, Bass was a four-year women’s basketball letter winner at East Tennessee State University, where she graduated with honors in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in her double major of public relations/advertising and political science.
Upon leaving ETSU, Bass enrolled at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she served as a graduate assistant for marketing & promotions in the Lady Volunteers athletic department. She completed her master’s degree in recreation administration at UT in 1986. In 1998, Beth received an Award of Honor from East Tennessee State, which is given each year to Outstanding Alumni recognizing outstanding accomplishment and representation of East Tennessee State. The Award only goes out to a maximum of four ETSU alumnae per year.
Bass received the President’s Award from the National Association of Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS) in April of 2004. She was honored for her efforts in promoting and marketing The State Farm Wade Trophy, which is the oldest and most prestigious award presented in Division I women’s basketball and commonly referred to as the “Heisman of Women’s Basketball.” The State Farm Wade Trophy honors the late Lily Margaret Wade who pioneered an unprecedented dynasty in women’s basketball, leading to the growth and popularity of the sport during the 1970’s.
In 2007, Bass assisted in the launch of one of the most successful grassroots marketing campaigns for breast cancer awareness with the success of the WBCA’s “Think Pink”, now known as the WBCA Pink Zone™. The campaign grew from 120 participating institutions in 2007, to over 1100 participants in 2008. In just the initiative’s second year, over 830,000 fans were reached and the participants raised nearly $1 million for breast cancer awareness and research, creating one of the largest movements in women’s basketball history. This breast cancer initiative served as a conduit to start the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, in partnership with The V Foundation for Cancer Research. The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund was launched on December 3, 2007, and serves as the WBCA’s first health initiative on record.
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