John Casey, the 2016 ABCA President, has been appointed to serve as Chairman of the association's Board of Directors. The 42-year Lifetime ABCA Member was nominated and elected for the position during the Board of Directors meetings in Omaha, Neb. in June 2023 and officially assumed his new role on Sunday, January 7 at the conclusion of the 2024 ABCA Convention.
Casey becomes the 11th coach in the association's 80-year history to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors. John Winkin, of the University of Maine, was elected as the Board's first chairman and served from 1983-85. Winkin was followed by: Chuck Brayton, Washington State University (1986-88); Jack Stallings, Georgia Southern University (1989-91); Bud Daniel, University of Wyoming (1992-94); Bill Arce, Claremont-Mudd College (1995-97); Carroll Land, Point Loma Nazarene University (1998-2003); Glen Tuckett, Brigham Young University (2004-09); Jack Kaiser, St. John's University (2010-12); Mark Johnson, Texas A&M/Sam Houston State (2013-18); Keith Madison, University of Kentucky (2019-24).
A 2020 ABCA Hall of Fame inductee, Casey first joined the ABCA during the 1982-83 membership year. He was ultimately selected by the ABCA's NCAA Div. III membership to serve as the NCAA Div. III Chair on the ABCA Executive Committee and then nominated by the Executive Committee to serve on the ABCA Board of Directors. Casey was then nominated by the ABCA Board of Directors in June 2011 to serve in the role of ABCA Fourth Vice President. His nomination was confirmed in a vote by the entire ABCA membership in Fall 2011 and he then spent the next four years working through the ranks, ultimately becoming the association's president in 2016.
Casey currently serves as an assistant coach at Johnson & Wales University (RI) alongside his son, head coach Kevin Casey. Prior to Johnson & Wales, Casey spent 38 seasons and 1,201 games leading the program at his alma mater, Tufts University. Casey posted a 765-431-5 record across the nearly four decades. He was just the 29th NCAA Div. III coach all-time to eclipse 750 career victories. Across his career, Casey has also been heavily involved with advancing the sport of baseball overseas as part of the International Sports Groups' (ISG) coaching clinics. He has made trips to Sweden, Curacao and Switzerland in order to provide instruction to baseball coaches in those countries.
In addition to the ABCA Hall of Fame, Casey is a member of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Hall of Fame, an organization in which he served as a member of the Executive Committee and is a Past President. Casey was also presented with the NEIBA’s most prestigious honor, the Jack Butterfield Award, which is given to a New England coach who exhibits the integrity and dedication to the game of college baseball in 2000, and with the NEIBA Andy Baylock Distinguished Service Award, which is presented to a person who has significantly contributed to the betterment of New England college baseball, in 2005. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Boston Park League, the oldest amateur baseball league in the country, in 1999.
The ABCA Chairman of the Board is elected from among the Past ABCA Presidents serving on the Board. The Chair serves a three-year term and is eligible to be re-elected for one additional three year term as outlined by the ABCA Bylaws. In addition to chairing the Board of Directors, the Chair also serves as the Chair of the ABCA Standing Committee. The mission of the Board of Directors, as outlined in the ABCA Bylaws, is to establish the policy and principles of conducting the affairs of the Association, act on Constitution and Bylaw revisions, adopt proposed budgets and oversee financial affairs of the Association and employ the ABCA staff to efficiently conduct the business of the organization. The Board of Directors meets four times annually, twice during the ABCA Convention and twice in Omaha, Neb. during the NCAA Div. I College World Series.
ABCA Board of Directors