Onward To Victory provides a look back at the history of Notre Dame Hockey and behind-the-scenes access to the Fighting Irish as they prepare for the Compton Family Ice Arena dedication game against rival Boston College.
Tom Nevala is in his 22nd year as member of the athletics administration at Notre Dame, and he currently serves as senior associate athletics director for business operations as well as general manager of the new Compton Family Ice Arena. In his present role, he oversees all financial matters for the Notre Dame athletics department. Nevala also oversees the operations, programming and financial matters of the Compton Family Ice Arena, which opened in October 2011.
Nevala previously spent five years as associate athletics director, from 2005 to 2009, while spending the five years before that as assistant athletics director for business operations.
Nevala serves as the day-to-day administrative contact for the Irish hockey program. He represents Notre Dame on the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Council. He served as chair of the CCHA's executive committee in 2006-07, and also served on the CCHA's strategic planning committee. During the recent changes in college hockey, Nevala led Notre Dame's efforts to determine its future conference alignment that culminated in the decision to join Hockey East in 2013-14. He also led the effort for Notre Dame to partner with Fort Wayne to host the Midwest Regional during the 2010 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament. Nevala is in his final year of a four-year term serving as the CCHA's representative on the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee. He will serve as the chair of that committee for 2012-13, which concludes with the NCAA Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Nevala played a key role for the Athletics Department from 2008 through 2011 as member of the team that developed the concept, the final design and then oversaw the construction of the Compton Family Ice Arena.
Active in campus matters, Nevala is a member of the University's equity in athletics task force, served on the continuous improvement departmental assessment team, represents athletics on the campus administration guidance counsel for the Office of Information Technology, and is a member of the University's business managers group. Nevala spent five years as the business manager for athletics, following time as business manager of the Joyce Center and two years as director of the Varsity Shop and ice rink manager for that facility.
During the 1999-2000 academic year, Nevala coordinated the effort to form the Notre Dame alumni football team that traveled to Germany in July of 2000 and defeated the Hamburg Blue Devils in the Charity Bowl. He also served as tournament director of the 1997 BIG EAST Men's Golf Championship.
A 1990 Notre Dame graduate with a degree in aerospace engineering, Nevala returned to the University in the fall of that year to attend graduate school and work in athletics business office. He earned his MBA in interdisciplinary studies in May of 1992.
An associate football manager for the 1989 season as an undergraduate, Nevala is a native of Maynard, Mass. Born Jan. 25, 1968, he is married to the former Jen Turgeon, a 1993 St. Mary's graduate and a native of Brunswick, Maine. They have two children, a daughter, Sofia (7), and a son, Benjamin (5).
