Kent Haslam

Kent and Dad Kent Haslam

February 3, 2010—As an athletics administrator, Kent Haslam enjoys going to work everyday. His background as a young boy and his missionary service in Japan have been a blessing in his life, setting him on a path of experiences that lead to his current position at the University of Montana. His passion for Grizzly sports is evident and he is grateful to be a part of it. Although Montana may not be the focal point of big-time athletics, he is quick to point out that college sports is alive and well in Missoula. Above: Kent Haslam (left) with his father Larry Haslam at the NCAA Men’s Basketball Regional in Glendale, Arizona, March 2009. Photo: Courtesy of Kent Haslam. Cover photo: University of Montana Sports Information.

LatterDaySports: Where were you born and raised?

Kent Haslam: I was born in Ogden, Utah—which is where the hospital was—but I was raised in Logan and really lived in Logan, Utah, my entire life.

LatterDaySports: Did you play any high school sports?

Haslam: Yeah, I played football, basketball, and baseball. I played football and baseball the most, but baseball is what I elected to focus on. I played a lot of sports. Sports was always a big part of my life growing up.

LatterDaySports: Did you play in college?

Haslam: I played baseball a little at Snow College and then went on my mission (Japan Fukuoka Mission), came back and played a little baseball at BYU, but I realized that I’d better just go to school so I could graduate quicker . . . so not a real long college career. I had great intentions and loved baseball and wanted to play baseball, but I decided that I’d better just focus on school so I could get through (college).

LatterDaySports: So how did you end up working in the sports field?

Haslam: I caught my bug for sports and sports administration back when I was just a young eight or nine year old. My neighbor was the Sports Information Director at Utah State University. He had a son that was a year younger than me. He’d have us sell programs and run stats and help him at football and basketball games at Utah State. I just loved sports, particularly college athletics. I loved that atmosphere. I loved being a part of it.

I studied broadcast journalism in college and had an opportunity to work in Japan prior to graduating from BYU. I worked for a TV station over there that was tied in with a professional baseball team and that kind of sent me off in the direction of baseball and tying in my media relations background. I started off in baseball. It was really where I started off in sports (professionally). I’ve had a love of sports my entire life, but I really think that I got that bug when I was just young and had that opportunity to be behind the scenes of a college athletic program.

LatterDaySports: Was your baseball experience in Japan before or after your mission?

Haslam: It was after my mission. I was on my mission from 1987 to 1989. I came back from (my mission in) Japan and then got into BYU and right before I graduated I did six month internship in Nagoya. That was in 1992—just before I got married—and that was really a turning point, a chance to get some unique experience.

LatterDaySports: Learning Japanese on your mission really came in handy then?

Haslam: It did, in fact I’ve used my Japanese quite a bit through my professional career up until I got into college athletics. I used it a lot when I worked in baseball, in fact I was hired specifically to work for the Anaheim Angels because I spoke Japanese. They had signed a pitcher—Shigetoshi Hasegawa—and they needed a guy to translate for him and also do some of the traveling secretary duties. So I used my Japanese in baseball for about six years. I used it quite a bit when I was working for the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah and now that I’ve moved into college athletics I don’t have quite as much an opportunity to use the language.

LatterDaySports: What was it like working at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City?

Haslam: It was a great experience. I had worked in baseball for about six years and was starting to realize it was a tough life to live with family because of the time demands. The Olympics were coming to Salt Lake City and I was fortunate enough to get hired in the Fall of 1998. I worked in the media relations department and had some great experiences dealing with crisis management, to be honest, because a couple of weeks after I started working at the Olympics, the whole bid scandal broke. To watch that whole thing unfold and deal with Mitt Romney coming in and the changes he put into place, it was really a great learning experience, a great opportunity to be involved in a tremendous undertaking. I was only (in Salt Lake City) for about eighteen months and I got the opportunity to work at Northern Arizona University. I decided to take that job because it sent me in a long term direction with college athletics. But I was fortunate enough to go back and work during the (actual) games in Salt Lake City. I got kind of the best of both worlds. I was able to go back and work at the games and still had a job to go back to in Flagstaff, Arizona.

LatterDaySports: What do you do at the University of Montana?

Haslam: I am the Associate Athletic Director for Development. I oversee all of the fundraising efforts for the university in the athletic department and all of the major gift fundraising and the annual fund. We have a group of about five that are out raising money for capital projects, scholarships, facility improvements and various things that we need to do. Private support is so critical to college athletics now. To be successful you’ve got to have it. So that’s what my job is, to secure that private support.

LatterDaySports: What is it like living in Montana?

Haslam: It’s great. Montana is really a neat place to live. It’s a beautiful place to live and Western Montana in particular is just unbelievable. (It’s great) to be associated with the University of Montana. I really do have a hard time explaining the passion that Grizzly fans have for this university, to people who have not been a part of this athletic department, especially the football program, and men’s and women’s basketball. Football is the forefront of the university and we are the focal point of the state. There’s been such tremendous success here. We’ve played in back-to-back (FCS) national championship games. We sellout all of our home games and have a fan base that’s very committed. They travel hundreds of miles to get to our games every Saturday. It’s a neat university to be involved with. The passion here is really unmatched.

LatterDaySports: Are there any plans for Montana to move up a level?

Haslam: That’s a question that we get asked quite a bit and I’ll give you the honest answer. This is what I tell our boosters, supporters and our fans. What we really want to make sure we are able to do at the University of Montana is be in a position where we can make a decision that’s best for our future, as opposed to having a decision forced on us. All we can do is continue to build a financial support system that allows us to make a good decision so that if an opportunity presents itself someone’s not forcing you, or mandates from the NCAA, or changes in the classifications that are coming down the road here . . . you’re in a position to make a good decision. I don’t think it would be a reason for competitiveness, but it would be an opportunity to grow and to get better and be affiliated with like-universities. College athletics is really complex and you’ve got to be in the right conference and the conference has to make sense. So the honest answer is, we want to make sure that we are in a position to make a good decision.

LatterDaySports: What’s church like in Montana?

Haslam: It’s relatively strong. Our closest temple is in Spokane, Washington, which is about two and a half hours away. We have one stake that stretches through a good portion of the Missoula area out west and then up north close to Kalispell. The church is definitely not as strong here as it was in Flagstaff, but the members here and youth here are very committed. It’s given us great opportunities to be unique, be different. My oldest is in early morning seminary, so he’s learning what that’s like at 5:30 a.m. and being committed to doing some of those things and being active in scouting and with the youth. The church is the same everywhere, but there are some unique opportunities in Montana to be different and to stand up for something that’s (perceived as) a little different.

LatterDaySports: You’ve lived in Utah, Flagstaff, and Montana. Do you prefer to live in places that have four seasons?

Haslam: I like the west. As I get older I’m liking the cold less and less. I do like the western part of the United States, probably more so because I enjoy the climate. I enjoy the mountains. My family and my wife’s family pretty much live out on this side of the country. So I enjoy living out west.

LatterDaySports: Professionally, what’s been your most rewarding experience?

Haslam: Oh boy. I would say it’s been an overall career so far that’s allowed me to do things that I love and provide for my family. I love my job. I don’t dread going to work. It’s fun. I’ve been part of some amazing experiences. Major League Baseball, the Olympics, an NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament when Montana won a game in the first round upsetting the University of Nevada. I’ve been to a couple of national championship games with Montana here at this level for football. I’ve had some extremely rewarding experiences in competitions and games and atmospheres that I’ve been a part of but I think the most rewarding thing is doing something that I really enjoy and working with people I really like being around.

LatterDaySports: What about personally?

Haslam: Being back at the Olympic Games was a rewarding experience. To be there in the preliminary planning stages during a time when it seemed so tumultuous with so much controversy. Then leaving and being able to come back and work and be a part of the games and see how successful they were. It was right after 9/11. Patriotism was at an all-time high. Everything just clicked and went so well. That was really an unbelievable thing to be a part of. From a personal stand point, being a part of my kids lives and have a job where they (my family) enjoy being a part of. Spending time at a college basketball game or football game together with family is an awfully fun thing to do. Being on a campus in a college town—that’s an awfully rewarding experience as well.