Saginaw Valley State

Angela Pohl served as the Interim Director of Athletics at SVSU from August 2022 until October 2023. She has served Saginaw Valley State University and Cardinal Athletics for over twenty years.  Through her increasingly responsible management and oversight roles, Pohl also ensures the long-term operational stability and financial sustainability of the department.  Her leadership in establishing strategic planning initiatives, as well as monitoring the progress towards specific strategic goals and objectives, assures overall alignment with the mission and vision of the program. With comprehensive oversight of all internal business operations of the athletic program, she also is the primary sports administrator for baseball, softball, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, swimming, and diving.  Working closely with the coaches of each sport, she champions the student-athlete experience for success on and off the field of competition.  In her role as the Deputy Athletic Director, she serves as a member of the Athletic Director’s Senior Staff, Senior Woman Administrator, and Co-Chair of the Athletic Gender Equity Committee.  Pohl also serves as the University’s Title IX Coordinator as an investigator.   

Prior to her promotion to the Deputy Athletic Director role, she served as the Associate Athletic Director, responsible for business operations, community engagement, special event fundraising, marketing & promotions from 2007-2018.  In this capacity, Pohl built a network of regional and local business relationships that generated and expanded resources for Cardinal Athletics.  As well, Pohl was responsible for initiating multiple community engagement programs, bringing thousands of Great Lakes Bay Region community members to campus resulting in expanded exposure to University and athletic events. The success of these programs garnered national recognition through the granting of NCAA DII Community Engagement Programs of Excellence Awards for three consecutive years for Community Youth Days, Trunk or Treat Around the Track and Breast Cancer Survivor Recognition.  Pohl also served as Ryder Center Facility Manager from 2004-07 and was responsible for scheduling, coordinating, and staffing over one hundred home athletic, university, and external events, annually.  From 2001-2004 Pohl began her career at SVSU as the Compliance & Academic Services Coordinator, as well as the staff advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

Pohl is actively involved nationally, currently serving as a member of the NCAA DII Baseball Committee, representing the Midwest region. Previously, Pohl served and chaired the NCAA DII Men’s Soccer Committee for two years of her three-year term and has also been a member of the Midwest region volleyball ranking committee.  In March 2021, Pohl began service on the inaugural advisory board for BOSCA (Business of Small College Athletics).   Pohl was recently honored to participate as an SVSU representative for the 2021 Great Lakes Bay Region Leadership Institute.

Pohl earned a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education for psychology and sociology at Clemson University where she also went on to earn a master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling in the area of Student Affairs.  Pohl served as a graduate assistant in the Student-Athlete Enrichment Center at Clemson in academic advisement, as well as assisting in the coordination of the tutoring and mentoring programs.  Upon earning her graduate degree, Pohl served as an academic advisor for the football program at Kansas State University.  Community engagement has been a consistent thread throughout her career having initiated or administered efforts at both Clemson and Kansas State, as well as at SVSU.      

Her passion for the collegiate athletic experience was established and fostered during her decorated career as a member of the inaugural women’s soccer team at Clemson University.  For her athletic success, Pohl was recognized as Clemson University’s “Female Athlete of the Year” in 1998.  Her on-field contributions helped the Tigers reach the NCAA post-season tournament in each year of her four-year student-athlete experience, including an appearance in the Elite 8 and final ranking of #10 in the nation in 1997.  In 1998, in recognition of her on and off-the-field contributions, accolades, and achievements while at Clemson, Pohl received the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship.  

Pohl resides in Midland with her husband Justin and sons Tristan and Vaughn.