UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Athletics has named Brian Buchkovich to serve as the director of ability athletics and coach. He will coach and mentor ability athletes in multiple sport programs and events as well as coordinate competition, travel and outreach programs. Buchkovich replaces Teri Jordan, who retired from the position after a 35-year affiliation with Penn State.
“Brian’s experience and dedication to coaching will help us build on the strong foundation we have with our Ability Athletics program,” said Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator Charmelle Green. “We’re excited about the programming and ideas Brian has to cultivate and increase opportunities for development and competition.”
Buchkovich has coached the Sitting Bulls sled hockey team since 2008. The squad, based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, has won seven tournament titles in the last five years and won the Metropolitan Division of the North East Sled Hockey League in 2018.
Three of Buchkovich’s Sitting Bull athletes were selected to attend USA Hockey’s Sled Select Camp and one of his female athletes earned an invitation to the USA Hockey’s Women’s Sled Hockey Development Camp.
The Sitting Bulls recently won the London Blizzard Sledge Tournament in Ontario, Canada, and captured championships for the International Silver Stick Sled Tournament in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and their own Columbus Day Tournament in Johnstown, in both 2014 and 2015. Buchkovich and his team started their stretch of titles with a first-place finish at the National Disabled Hockey Festival in Boston in 2014.
“This is my passion,” said Buchkovich, who joined Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics during the fall semester. “For 12 years as a volunteer and coach, I’ve worked with athletes to help them achieve their potential and beyond, and to have this opportunity to make an impact at Penn State is amazing.”
In addition to coaching his athletes, Buchkovich scheduled competitions, coordinated scrimmages and fundraising events, and developed outreach programming to introduce sled hockey to local schools.
A U.S. Air Force veteran, Buchkovich is a 1997 graduate of McKendree University with a double major in computer information systems and mathematics. He has spent his professional career in the information systems and information security fields.
Buchkovich and his family reside in Summerhill, Pennsylvania.