Deb Blackmore and Jean Snuggs took leadership route in growing era of Title IX
Nomination form
SACRAMENTO - For the 2022-23 academic year, the Association is honoring the 50th anniversary of the historical law passage of Title IX. For the month of November, we highlight both Deborah (Deb) Blackmore and Jean Snuggs, both of whom were Dean/Athletic Directors and head coaches.
The CCCAA invites members to continue to nominate staff, coaches, and administrators for recognition as we celebrate their efforts related to gender equity. The link to nominate is at the top of this page.
Deborah Blackmore, (retired) Dean/Athletic Director and Head Coach
Deborah Blackmore, a longtime coach, administrator, and Southern California native paved the way for Mt. San Antonio College as a powerhouse program within the
Deb was a multi-sport student-athlete, competing in volleyball, field hockey, basketball, softball, gymnastics (Mt. SAC), and field hockey (Cal Poly Pomona). Following her playing career, Deb focused her attention on coaching and thus began her tenure at Mt. SAC.
After enjoying a successful coaching stint, Deb decided to enter the administrative realm of intercollegiate athletics. She served first as Assistant Dean/Athletic Director for five years at Mt. SAC, followed by seven years as the Dean/Athletic Director.
During this time Deb was able to cultivate and develop the athletics senior leadership staff currently at Mt. SAC. Deb had this advice to share with the current members of the association, “I urge you to mentor and encourage female coaches and staff to think about stepping up and pique their interest in administration. I also urge male athletic directors do the same to help increase the female population of athletic directors. It’s not only about guiding and mentoring our female student-athletes but to also grow our female leadership.”
Following her retirement from Mt. SAC, Deb was inducted in the Mt. SAC and California State Athletic Hall of Fames.
Jean Snuggs, (retired) Women’s Athletic Director, Dean/Athletic Director and Head Coach
Jean Snuggs was “forbidden” to participate in high school athletics by the Illinois Public Schools, but she persevered and participated in both tennis and basketball at the University of Illinois.
Following her graduate studies, Jean began her coaching career in Illinois as a junior high school coach for five different sports. Following her professional stint in Illinois, Jean headed west and settled in the Sacramento region where she continued her coaching career at the middle and high school levels before settling in at American River College as the head coach for cross country and track and field.
Jean enjoyed a long tenure at ARC, first as Women’s Athletic Director followed by serving as the sole Dean/Athletic Director. A highly respected administrator, Jean was asked to come back twice following her retirement as Interim Dean/Athletic Director at American River and also at Folsom Lake College.
Jean cites her female physical education professors at the University of Illinois for their inspiration. They “approached sport and movement from a ‘whole person’ research perspective – history of sport, social context, competition, performance, how we learn motor skills, etc. This served as the basis for my entire career – teaching, coaching, administration. I believe this solid foundation allowed me to have success in coaching/teaching activities in which I personally had not competed and/or performed.”