From VCSU Athletics

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUAthletics.com) – Valley City State University president Alan LaFave has announced changes to the athletic department leadership team under new interim athletic director Dennis McCulloch.

Anna Bratsch has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director/Director for Sports Medicine, and Mark Potts has been promoted to Assistant Athletic Director/Director of Sports Information. Both Bratsch and Potts, along with current assistant athletic director, Casey Olney, will be a part of McCulloch’s leadership team for athletics.

Bratsch has served as VCSU’s head athletic trainer since joining the staff in 2013. She was named NSAA Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2020. Bratsch’s main focus as assistant athletic director will be in helping promote VCSU’s women’s athletic programs and ensuring equitable support for those programs from the university. She will also lead Title IX and gender equity planning for the overall department, to include both men’s and women’s sports.

“Anna serves VCSU student-athletes with the highest level of professionalism and skill,” said VCSU President Alan LaFave. “Her knowledge, approach and skills make her a valuable part of the Viking Athletic family, and her work helps many succeed on and off the field.”

“Anna has been a great addition to our athletic staff since taking over our athletic training department nine years ago,” said McCulloch. “She has truly improved the services our student-athletes receive from the athletic training department. I’m very excited to have Anna accept a leadership role and look forward to working with her to help move our department forward. She will be a great advocate for our student-athletes and continue to work to improve their experience in our programs.”

Potts has served as a leader in university communications since 2013, especially within the athletic department. He was named the conference’s Sports Information Director of the Year in 2017, 2019 and 2022. As assistant athletic director, he’ll take on a larger role in gameday management, gameday staffing, marketing, promotions and business sponsorships.

“Mark’s work as our Sports Information Director has been unmatched in the conference and he goes above and beyond normal SID duties every year,” said LaFave. “Mark helps ensure gameday experiences go smoothly and keeps the athletics website and social media updated. He has helped usher in high quality live streaming and other types of engagement for athletic activities.”

“We are excited to have Mark accept a leadership role in our athletic department,” McCulloch said.  “He has done a tremendous job over his past nine years as our SID and has helped every program improve its exposure with website improvement, media productions, social media, marketing designs and promotion of our athletes’ success. His work, passion and commitment to Viking Athletics has earned him an opportunity to move up into an assistant athletic director role.”