Park College Athletics

Rod Lovett worked at Parkland from 1989-2018. He has been employed by the National Junior College Athletic Association in Charlotte, North Carolina, serving as both the Director of Championship Events, and currently is in Sports Governance, Region Leadership, and the Coaches Association. 

During his time at Parkland, Lovett served as both the head and assistant coach for the baseball team, leading the Cobras to their first trip to the World Series in 2001 and was part of the 2002 World Series Championship staff. Lovett compiled 501 victories during time at Parkland, which is still the most for any baseball coach at the college. Lovett also served as the Athletic Director from January 2000 until retirement in the summer of 2018. During that time, Parkland emerged as one of the most successful NJCAA DII programs in the country. The Cobras appeared in 48 National Finals, winning four titles (two each in baseball and volleyball) while finishing as the National Runner-Up on eight occasions. In addition, Parkland won 75 CCCI and MWAC titles. One of the career highlights was having seven of the eight Cobra athletic teams make Nationals during the 2016-17 academic year. Numerous teams earned NJCAA Academic honors, including the 2016-17 men’s golf team earning NJCAA Academic Team of the Year. Over 200 student-athletes earned Academic All-American recognition and Cobra athlete team grade point averages were regularly above 3.0. Retention and graduation rates were consistently higher then the college average.  

In addition to the program’s success on the court and field, Lovett was instrumental in the creation of the Parkland Athletic Hall of Fame, the creation of “Coby’ as the physical mascot for Cobra athletic teams, branding of the current Cobra mascot logo, and an overhaul of the Athletic Department website. Lovett also contributed to the development of numerous facility updates including the current fitness center, training room, and gym updates as well as improvements to the soccer, baseball, and softball facilities. Early in his AD career, Lovett helped secure a pair of full-time affiliate positions for members of the coaching staff to aid in Retention and Academic programs for student-athletes as well as a Fitness Center Coordinator. He also added men’s and women’s soccer to the list of sport offerings, and oversaw upgrades to team travel for Cobra sport teams.  

In addition to his work at Parkland, Lovett served locally on the Champaign County Sports Commission and was a 2017 Champaign County Tourist Award Winner.  Lovett served as the Midwest Athletic Conference Commissioner and was the Men’s Region Director for NJCAA Region 24. In that role, Lovett was a member of the Executive team and was the Chair of both DII Baseball and the Championship Events committees. He was honored in 2013-14 by the NJCAA as the George E. Killian Award of Excellence winner, which recognizes individuals that have demonstrated ideals of volunteerism, achievement, service leadership, and excellence as exemplified by its namesake.