Patrick Colbert Named New England Volleyball Conference Commissioner
Veteran collegiate athletics leader Patrick Colbert has been named Commissioner of the New England Volleyball Conference (NEVC), effective immediately. Colbert is also the current Commissioner of the Conference of New England (CNE), where he has been tasked with forging a new strategic vision for the conference, which included a comprehensive conference rebrand from its former moniker of the Commonwealth Coast Conference, which went into effect in August.
"We are fortunate to have someone with Patrick's qualifications and experience at the helm ofthe NEVC as we head into the new season,” said Bard College athletic director and search
committee chair Stefanie Carrington. “It's an exciting period of growth for men's volleyball in the northeast and Patrick impressed our administrative cohort with his vision for the future of our conference. We have a high level of confidence in his ability to lead us forward and position the NEVC institutions for sustained success."
As NEVC Commissioner, Colbert plans to strengthen the league’s foothold in the Northeast landscape and continue to build on the success of its current members.
“It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to serve the NEVC membership as its nextCommissioner,” said Colbert. “It was clear through this process that the leaders at our
institutions are committed to being strategic and bold as we create a path forward that builds on previous successes and offers clarity and structure to our future.”
Prior to his role at the CNE, Colbert served as Deputy Commissioner at the Division I Western Athletic Conference (WAC), where he was the chief operating officer for the league office with
oversight of all internal operations and facilitates the conference’s governance process as its primary administrator and liaison to the league’s athletic directors. Colbert also acted as the
point of contact for the league’s multimedia rights holder, overseeing the facilitation of corporate sponsorship agreements and activations, while also working directly with conference
leadership to enhance television coverage opportunities with the league’s broadcasting partner ESPN.
Prior to the WAC, Colbert worked from 2012 until 2021 for the American Athletic Conference, ultimately rising to Assistant Commissioner of Sport Administration & Basketball Operations.
Colbert was a former four-year soccer student-athlete at Colby-Sawyer College, where he earned a B.S. in Sport Management. He also holds a M.S. in Sports Leadership from
Northeastern University.
He resides in Smithfield, R.I., with his wife, Lindsay, and their three daughters Brooke, Paige, and Reese.
About the NEVC
The NEVC is a NCAA Division III single-sport conference sponsoring the sport of men’s volleyball. The conference is comprised of seven institutions, Bard College, Endicott College, Nichols College, Vermont State University–Johnson, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, SUNY Potsdam and Russell Sage College.