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CUNNINGHAM SPARKS

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Swarthmore Announces Additions of Sparks and Cunningham

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore Athletic Department is excited to announce the additions of Nathan Sparks and Rob Cunningham to the athletics staff. Sparks joins the department as an assistant athletic trainer, while Cunningham was hired as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications. 

Sparks was hired as the fifth full-time athletic trainer as he joins an experienced staff. He previously served in the field as a graduate assistant for two seasons at Division I George Washington University. While with the Colonials, he provided care for men's water polo, women's soccer, women's rowing and swimming & diving student-athletes. 

Sparks most recently worked as an athletic trainer at the Orthopedics Associates of Lancaster, where he provided services to patrons at Spooky Nook Sports Complex, the largest indoor sports complex in North America. He also provided athletic training services for PA Classics Soccer and Hempfield High School. 

Before starting his professional career, Sparks graduated from West Chester University with a Bachelors of Science in Athletic Training. He expects to complete his Masters in Public Health from George Washington University in August of 2023. 

"We are excited to have Nathan join Swarthmore Athletics," said Marie Mancini, Director of Sports Medicine. "He is a great addition to the Sports Medicine team. He brings fresh ideas and has experience from various levels of athletic training that will benefit our student athletes. He is a great compliment to our growing and diverse staff."

Cunningham brings a decade's worth of experience to the Swarthmore Athletic Communications Office. He joins the Garnet after serving as the Director of Athletic Communications at Thomas Jefferson University for five years. Cunningham also spent a pair of two-year stints as an assistant director at Delaware Valley University and Rowan University, respectively.

Since arriving at Jefferson, Cunningham has been the driving force behind several updates to the office's operations. He led a redesign of the official athletics website and began a new partnership with SIDEARM Sports as the web host of JeffersonRams.com. Cunningham modernized statistical entry for the department, switching from long-time industry standard StatCrew to the fledgling NCAA LiveStats by Genius Sports, a new product supported by the NCAA. Cunningham was also the media coordinator for the 2019 NCAA East Region Cross Country Championships and the 2023 CACC Men's and Women's Basketball Championships hosted by Jefferson.

Cunningham graduated from Rowan in 2013 with a bachelors in Radio/Television/Film and Journalism, before earning a Masters of Science from Lock Haven University. While earning his bachelors with the Profs, Cunningham spent two years as an Athletic Communications Assistant and worked for the university's radio station. 

"This department is extremely fortunate to hire a candidate as qualified as Rob," said Matt Mizanin, Director of Athletic Communications. "Rob has a decades' worth of experience in the athletic communications field and previously served as a director for the past five years. He will bring a ton of knowledge, expertise and a valuable skill set to this office. We are thrilled to welcome Rob to our staff and excited for what the future holds for this office." 

Cunningham is scheduled to start his new position at the beginning of September, while Sparks has been working for the athletic training staff since the beginning of August.
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