Coach’s Corner: Allie De Witt on Building Systems, Sustainable Leadership, and the Future of Women’s Sports

“You can do it all, just not all at the same time” – Allie De Witt on Letting Go, Building Systems, and Seeing Women’s Sports for What They’ve Always Been

When Mountain East Conference Deputy Commissioner and Chief of Staff Allie De Witt leaves for a championship weekend, there’s usually a moment at what her family calls “the waving bush.” It’s the small shrub in their yard where her son, Clark, waves goodbye as she heads to another venue, another flight, another title game.

“Last time I had to travel, he curled up in my office chair and said, ‘You don’t have to leave — you work right here in this chair,’” she laughs. “Ten minutes later, he was fine. But I wasn’t.”

It’s a scene that working parents everywhere know well — that tug-of-war between devotion to family and passion for the work that makes you who you are. For De Witt, who leads operations for all 23 Mountain East Conference championships, supports the Commissioner, and manages financial and strategic planning for an entire conference office, it’s about accepting that balance isn’t perfect — and it never will be.

“You can do it all,” she says, “just not all at the same time.”

From the Softball Diamond to the Conference Boardroom

De Witt’s journey into athletics wasn’t something she mapped out — it evolved one experience at a time. A four-year softball starter and captain at Chowan University, she was a three-time All-CIAA selection, Academic All-American, and helped lead her team to the program’s first CIAA Championship in 2010.

At that point, she had not chosen athletics as a career path. “I really thought I was going to go into business,” she says. “I didn’t realize there were so many other roles behind the scenes. Most people don’t — until they see it up close.”

A simple work-study job in the athletic department changed everything. She saw what it took to stage a championship: the administrators, the table crews, the host schools, the vendors, the officials. “That’s when I saw each of the moving parts,” she says, “you don’t just roll the balls out and play. There’s someone behind the curtain making it all happen.”

From there, she never looked back. De Witt became Assistant AD for Communications at Chowan, where she earned CIAA Sports Information Director of the Year twice before moving into full-time administration. She later joined the Mountain East Conference in 2017, where should would go on to become Deputy Commissioner, Chief of Staff, and Senior Woman Administrator. She also was inducted into the Chowan University "Jim Garrison" Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.

As a leader, she’s known first for her work ethic and humility: “When I got my first job in athletics, someone took a chance on me, and I was determined not to let them down. That’s still how I operate today.”

Building Sustainable Systems for Success

As her career advanced, De Witt — like so many working parents — saw her life fill up with competing priorities. Committees. Championships. Family. Travel. The constant hum of expectations.

“We don’t have to be the center of every universe,” she says. “We can be awesome contributors without having to do it all. Sometimes that means letting something wait — and that’s okay.”

Her mom gave her the line she lives by now: “You can do it all, just not all at the same time.”

That philosophy guides how she leads, mentors, and manages — especially in a profession that often celebrates burnout as a badge of honor. “Athletics people love to talk about how much they’re grinding,” she says. “And yes, we work hard. But we should also celebrate building systems that make our work sustainable.”

As one of the driving forces behind Mountain East operations, De Witt’s days are filled with moving parts: 23 sports, dozens of officials, campus partnerships, media, budgets, and championship logistics. The secret to her success? Systems, not stress.

“We don’t need to wear chaos like a badge of honor,” she says. “If we can automate a process, document a checklist, or make life easier with a system, why wouldn’t we?”

Her belief in building structure early has transformed how the conference runs. Tasks that once felt like last-minute scrambles now flow through repeatable processes. Everyone knows what’s next.  

“Put it in the calendar, document the action items so your brain stops carrying it,” she says. “That’s true for home life too.”

Because as she puts it, “When people can stop worrying about what’s falling through the cracks, they can focus on what matters: relationships, athletes, and growth.”

Women’s Sports Didn’t Just Get Good — The World Finally Started Watching

Beyond operations, De Witt has helped shape the national landscape of women’s sports. She serves on the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball National Committee and the NCATA Sport Oversight Committee, guiding emerging sports like Acrobatics & Tumbling toward full NCAA championship status.

She’s seen firsthand how much has changed — and how much hasn’t.

“We didn’t just become great,” she says. “We’ve been great. There are just finally more eyeballs.”

She points to NIL as one of the biggest forces accelerating that visibility. “On the men’s side, you see a few athletes earning the big money. On the women’s side, you see a wider middle — more athletes with influence, using their platforms to inspire young girls. That’s the real story.”

The rise of women’s sports isn’t a sudden explosion — it’s a long-overdue spotlight. “We’ve been here all along,” she says. “People are finally watching.”

Confidence, Community, and the Rope

De Witt’s leadership advice for young women in athletics is simple: speak your name, ask for what you want, and keep showing up. “There’s power in saying your full name,” she says. “It signals confidence. It tells the room you belong there too.”

She also urges women to practice negotiation like any other skill. “You wouldn’t show up to your first at-bat without taking a swing all week. Negotiation is the same — you build that muscle by practicing it in small ways.”

Her confidence comes wrapped in humility. “I’ve had incredible mentors, but also friends outside of athletics who challenge my thinking. You need both. You need people who see your world and people who see beyond it.”

At the core of her leadership philosophy remains one lesson from her college coach: Hold the rope. “Everyone has a piece,” she says. “You’re responsible for yours.”

That mindset now carries through everything she touches — championships, governance, motherhood, and mentorship. “Sometimes being a good teammate isn’t glamorous,” she says. “It’s doing the unglamorous thing so someone else can succeed. That’s what makes teams — and conferences — work.”

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