UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ed Franks has been named the director of Penn State Sports Camps. He will begin his duties in February.
Franks replaces longtime Sports Camps Director Dick Bartolomea, who retired.
He will oversee camps that annually draw more than 20,000 participants to the University Park campus. Penn State hosts nearly 90 sports camps in 25 different sports that draw participants from across the nation and internationally.
Franks comes to Penn State after serving Emporia State University (ESU) as assistant director for scheduling and operations since 2007. Among his responsibilities was oversight of ESU’s summer camps and conferences.
“Sports Camps are an important part of Penn State’s educational mission,” said Dave Joyner, acting director of athletics. “Youth from all over come to camp at Penn State each year. Our goals are for them to have a safe and enjoyable experience, make great friendships, and return home with a new perspective and improved skills enabling them to be successful in both athletics and life. Ed’s experience and abilities make him a great caretaker of that mission. We welcome him to our team.”
A native of Temple Hills, Md., Franks has an extensive background in intercollegiate athletics operations. He has served as facility and event manager at Cal State Los Angeles from 2004-07; assistant athletic director/operations at his alma mater, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) from 2003-04; operations manager for the Bowie Baysox, a Class AA baseball franchise and team support services coordinator at Towson University. He also served as game operations and assistant facilities and game operations coordinator at UMBC.
At UMBC, Franks earned his degree in history. As an undergraduate, Franks was the recipient of the inaugural Leon Upshur Award for service to UMBC Athletics in 1994 and also was presented the Outstanding Service Award for Physical Education/Athletics Department.
Registration for Penn State’s 2013 summer sports camps is under way. For more information, go to http://www.gopsusports.com/camps/home.html.
