Holly Van Vlymen - Senior Associate AD–Student-Athlete Experience/Senior Woman Administrator - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Holly Van Vlymen

Title:
Senior Associate AD–Student-Athlete Experience/Senior Woman Administrator
Email:
Phone:
688-5308

Holly Van Vlymen joined the South Dakota State Athletic Department in June of 2023 as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Experience. She serves as the Jackrabbits’ Senior Woman Administrator and provides sport supervision for women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball and equestrian.

At South Dakota State, Van Vlymen oversees all areas related to the student-athlete experience, including academics, athletic training, NIL, compliance, mental health, nutrition and strength training. She is a member of the athletic department’s senior management team, advises the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and works closely with university leadership to ensure Title IX compliance within athletics. Van Vlymen also serves on several campus committees, including the Behavior Intervention Team, the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Prevention Team, and the Mental Health Well-Being Team.

In addition to her campus responsibilities, Van Vlymen serves on multiple committees at the conference level as a member of The Summit League. She is also a member of the Division I Softball Oversight Committee, which oversees the sport, selects teams for the NCAA Tournament, sets rules and makes decisions for the sport's growth (2024-27).

Prior to South Dakota State, Van Vlymen worked at Western Illinois from 2005-2023, serving in a variety of roles across academics, administration and coaching.

Most recently, Van Vlymen worked as an academic advisor in Western Illinois' school of education from 2021-23. During that time, she maintained a connection with the athletic department as a consultant, serving on the WIU Athletics Strategic Planning Committee and mentoring the athletics academic advising staff.

Van Vlymen also served as the Leathernecks’ Assistant Athletic Director for Academics and Student-Athlete Development from 2017-21 and as Senior Woman Administrator from 2020-21. In those roles, she acted as sport administrator for multiple WIU teams, worked closely with athletics and university leadership on Title IX and other policy matters, and monitored the academic progress of approximately 400 student-athletes.

From 2005-17, Van Vlymen led the Leathernecks as head softball coach, earning three Mid-Continent/Summit League Coach of the Year awards and guiding the program to four conference titles (three regular season and one postseason tournament). Western Illinois went to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and secured the first NCAA Tournament win in program history that season. During her tenure, Van Vlymen coached 47 all-conference honorees, including three Pitcher of the Year selections, two Player of the Year honorees and two Freshman of the Year award winners. Her teams and student-athletes consistently received academic excellence recognition, including national accolades as a Top 20 Scholar-Athlete Team. Van Vlymen began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Iowa from 2000-04.

A two-time graduate of Western Illinois University, Van Vlymen earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2000 and her master’s degree in education in 2008.