Dan Mara Named Commissioner of CSFL
By: Doug DeBiase | Collegiate Sprint Football League | April 8, 2020
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) and its 10-member institutions on Tuesday announced that Dan Mara has been named the new commissioner of the conference. The announcement was made after a unanimous vote was conducted by the league's members to appoint Mara as the new leader of the CSFL.
Mara will serve as commissioner of the CSFL, while still performing his duties in the same capacity at the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), which is a proud member of NCAA Division II.
"I am honored the administrators of the Collegiate Sprint Football League have entrusted me to lead this outstanding conference," Mara said. "The CSFL has a rich history, and an even brighter future. I am looking forward to working with each of our 10-member institutions to continue to grow the league and enrich the experience for our student-athletes."
Mara, who is currently the third longest tenued commissioner in Division II, brings 14 years of experience in that capacity to the CSFL. He arrived at the CACC office as commissioner in 2006, after 11 years as the Associate Vice President for Athletics and Fitness at Post University, which is a member of both the CSFL and CACC.
During his tenure at the CACC, the conference has grown from 12 members to the current 14 members. The CACC trails only the Lone Star State Conference, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Great Lakes Valley Conference, and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in number of members. Mara is Second Vice-President of the Division II Collegiate Commissioners Association and will Chair the Association in 2020-21. He has served on a number of D2 CCA Committees.
When he was at Post University, Mara served as Vice President of the CACC Directors Council from 1998 to 2004 and chaired the conference's Ethics and Membership Committees until his appointment as Commissioner. During that time, he was heavily involved with the CACC's move to the NCAA. The CACC was elected to Active NCAA Membership in July of 2004.
Mara was the CACC's first representative to serve on the prestigious NCAA Division II Management Council. He represented the conference from 2004-2009. He was the Chairman of the NCAA Division II Convention Planning Team from 2007-2009 and chaired the NCAA Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee from 2007-2009. He was a Sportsmanship Committee member from 2005-2009. He was also a member of the Division II Identity Sub-Committee. He served as a member of the Division II Infractions Penalties Sub-Committee as well as the NCAA Life and Work Balance Association-Wide Group. Mara served a four-year term on the NCAA Division II Membership Committee (2010-2014). He was elected Vice Chair of the Committee in 2011 and was Chairman of the Committee from 2012 to 2014. In January 2020, Mara began service on the Division II Enforcement and Infractions Task Force. The Task Force will review trends in infractions and recommend possible legislative and procedural changes. He is the Chair of the NCAA Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee for 2019-20.
Prior to beginning the administrative portion of his career, Mara was an accomplished women's college basketball coach at Mitchell College in New London, Conn.
Mara coached the Mitchell program for 10 seasons and compiled a career mark of 289-16 (.947 winning percentage). His teams won 10 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) New England titles and reached two National Junior College Athletic Association Final Fours. In five different seasons the Pequots reached number one in the NJCAA National Poll.
Mara is a member of four halls of fame for his basketball accomplishments. He was inducted into the Mitchell College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998, the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003, the NJCAA Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Mara holds degrees from Mitchell College and Roger Williams University as well as a Graduate Certificate from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). He lives with his son Danny (17).
ABOUT THE CSFL The Collegiate Sprint Football League is a full-contact, intercollegiate, varsity sport and has the same rules as NCAA college football, except that all players must weigh 178.0 pounds or less.
Ten (10) member institutions comprise the CSFL, including Alderson Broaddus University, Army West Point, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Cornell University, Mansfield University, the U.S. Naval Academy, Post University, the University of Pennsylvania and St. Thomas Aquinas College.
