Torain recently shared her experience implementing Teamworks Hub, a comprehensive technology platform designed to streamline athletic department operations. Her insights reveal the careful considerations athletic directors must weigh when deciding to overhaul systems that affect everyone from compliance staff to student-athletes. Knowing a technology platform works is one thing, she explained, but being the one who decides to bring it in is another.

The challenges facing college athletic departments extend across every role and responsibility. Athletic directors need clear visibility across their entire operation without expanding headcount beyond what budgets allow, all while ensuring staff members feel adequately supported in their work. Compliance teams operate with solid frameworks but lose countless hours pursuing student-athletes to complete required forms. Athletic trainers coordinate complex schedules, communication channels, and travel arrangements across multiple teams through scattered methods including text messages and informal systems.

The Technology Gap Before Implementation

Before implementing a unified platform, Torain and her team could clearly identify operational gaps from every position within the department. Head coaches managed team logistics on top of their primary coaching responsibilities, adding administrative burdens that detracted from their core mission. Student-athletes juggled multiple apps and group chats simply to track what their teams, trainers, and compliance officers required of them.

The decision to adopt Teamworks Hub came from Torain’s previous experience witnessing the platform’s effectiveness from different perspectives earlier in her career, long before she occupied the athletic director’s chair. However, she had never been the final decision-maker responsible for platform selection and successful implementation across an entire athletic department. The weight of that responsibility shaped her approach to evaluating and ultimately choosing the technology solution.

As Senior Business Development Executive at Teamworks, Torain now helps other athletic directors navigate the same decision-making process she experienced firsthand. Her unique perspective combines the operational challenges of managing a Division III program with deep knowledge of how technology platforms can address those specific pain points. This dual expertise proves invaluable for institutions considering similar transformations.

Immediate Changes After Platform Launch

Once Hub went live at the University of Chicago, operational improvements appeared immediately across the athletic department. Messages reached entire teams simultaneously instead of getting lost between disparate apps or requiring relay through three other people before reaching intended recipients. Compliance staff stopped chasing signatures for required forms because documents landed directly on each athlete’s mobile device, and completed submissions began flowing in without constant follow-up.

Scheduling and travel logistics consolidated into one centralized location instead of requiring the same information to be entered four separate times across different systems. The athletic director’s office gained comprehensive visibility across every team’s operations without adding bureaucratic layers or creating additional reporting requirements that would burden coaches and staff. Student-athletes experienced simplified communication channels that reduced confusion and helped them focus on academics and competition.

The transformation addressed fundamental inefficiencies that had become normalized within the department’s daily operations. Athletic trainers coordinated their responsibilities through streamlined digital workflows rather than cobbling together solutions through text messages and informal communication channels. Head coaches reclaimed time previously consumed by administrative logistics, allowing them to concentrate on athlete development and team preparation.

Decision-Making Considerations for Athletic Directors

Torain’s experience highlights critical factors athletic directors must evaluate when considering technology adoption. The platform must serve diverse constituencies including coaches, athletic trainers, compliance officers, administrative staff, and student-athletes, each with distinct needs and technical comfort levels. Implementation requires more than simply purchasing software-it demands organizational commitment to changing established workflows and communication patterns.

Athletic directors bear ultimate responsibility for whether technology investments deliver promised value across their departments. They must balance immediate operational improvements against implementation challenges, staff training requirements, and the learning curve that inevitably accompanies new systems. The decision carries financial implications for programs operating under tight budgetary constraints where every dollar allocated to technology means reduced funding for other priorities.

Successful implementation also requires buy-in from stakeholders who may resist changing familiar processes, even when those processes create inefficiencies. Coaches accustomed to managing team communications through their preferred methods may initially view centralized platforms as constraints rather than tools. Student-athletes downloading yet another app may question whether the new system genuinely simplifies their experience or simply adds another layer to navigate.

The Broader Context of College Athletics Operations

The operational pressures Torain described reflect broader trends affecting college athletic departments across all competitive levels. While her experience comes from Division III, where athletic programs lack the revenue streams and administrative resources available to major Division I institutions, the fundamental challenges transcend divisional boundaries. Every athletic department struggles to coordinate complex operations across multiple teams, manage compliance requirements, and support student-athletes effectively with limited resources.

Technology platforms offer solutions to persistent operational challenges, but their effectiveness depends on thoughtful implementation aligned with departmental needs and culture. Athletic directors must serve as both strategic visionaries who recognize transformation opportunities and practical managers who ensure new systems integrate smoothly into daily operations. Torain’s transition from implementing technology as an athletic director to helping others navigate similar decisions demonstrates the value of experience-based guidance in this specialized area.

Her insights provide a roadmap for athletic directors considering technology adoption, emphasizing the importance of understanding platform capabilities firsthand, evaluating specific departmental pain points, and recognizing the organizational commitment required for successful implementation. The lessons learned at the University of Chicago continue shaping how other institutions approach operational transformation in college athletics.

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