Florida State, Alford add two new staff members to athletic department

FSU and athletic director Michael Alford have recently add two hires to high-ranking positions in the FSU athletic department.

Last week, FSU announced Alycia (Lisa) Varytimidis as Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA). Earlier this afternoon, Janeen Lalik was named Deputy Athletics Director for FSU.

Here are the full releases on both hires (with comments from Alford) from FSU Sports Information.

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Florida State University Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford announced Wednesday the hiring of Janeen Lalik as Deputy Athletics Director for External Operations. Lalik will oversee all external operations for athletics including marketing and promotions, multi-media rights, public relations, Seminole Productions, ticket operations, social media, and video services. She will also manage the external partnerships with the athletics department and have sport oversight responsibilities.

Lalik (pronounced LAHL-ick) has nearly 30 years of combined experience in sports in the collegiate space with Fanatics, the University of Tennessee, Ticketmaster and multimedia rights entities ISP|IMG|WME where her primary focus has been on revenue-generating aspects of the collegiate sports business.

“Janeen is a prominent industry leader with extensive experience in media negotiations and the identification of revenue streams,” said Alford. “She is well-versed in collegiate athletics and has a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities from both inside and outside a university. She will be an outstanding addition to our executive team.”

A native of Troy, Michigan, Lalik comes to FSU from Fanatics where she has served as Vice President of Partner Development since May of 2021. From 2017 until joining Fanatics, she was Senior Associate Athletics Director for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Tennessee where her responsibilities included leadership of the Volunteers’ fan experience department, ticket sales and operations, broadcasting and VFL Films, corporate partnerships, merchandise and licensing, and game production. Lalik also served as the liaison to IMG College/Vol Network.

“It’s a dynamic time in college athletics and I’m excited to return to campus to work alongside Michael and his leadership team,” Lalik said. “I’m looking forward to getting to Tallahassee and immersing myself in Seminole athletics. I am grateful for the opportunity to work for such an incredible brand in Florida State."

Lalik joined the Tennessee staff from Ticketmaster where she led the newly established college athletics division as Senior Vice President from March 2016 to July 2017.

Before leading the new division at Ticketmaster, Lalik spent 18 years overseeing incredible collegiate partner growth at IMG College/ISP Sports (ISP Sports was acquired by IMG College in 2010).

With Lalik occupying one of the company's executive posts, IMG College evolved into the leading multimedia, marketing and licensing/brand management company in America.

In her role as Senior Vice President for New Business Development, Lalik used her gifts for relationship development to grow IMG's collegiate partnerships to more than 100—in addition to multiple conferences and bowls.

Prior to ISP's acquisition, Lalik's productivity at ISP landed her a spot on Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal's Forty Under 40 list in 2009. In 2008, she was named a Woman Extraordinaire by Triad Business Journal.

Lalik's career in sports began with the Palace of Auburn Hills and the NBA's Detroit Pistons in 1991. She served the organization until moving to ISP Sports in 1997. Lalik graduated from Central Michigan in 1991 with a degree in Business Administration/Marketing.

Florida State Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford announced Friday the hiring of Alycia (Lisa) Varytimidis as Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) for FSU Athletics.

Varytimidis, a highly regarded athletic administrator and former indoor volleyball student-athlete and collegiate head coach, comes to Florida State from Austin Peay State University where she was most recently Deputy Director of Athletics for Student Welfare and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA).

Varytimidis was the primary contact and oversight of Austin Peay’s student-athlete experience and welfare and conduct issues. She also oversaw the athletic department’s internal operations including academics, compliance, athletic training and sports performance. She was the primary oversight of the Governors’ men’s and women’s basketball and tennis programs in addition to serving as the department’s liaison to the University Provost, Office of Student-Affairs, Housing and Office of Admissions.

In addition to her responsibilities with Title IX and Gender Equity as part of her role as SWA at Florida State, Varytimidis will oversee student-athlete development, compliance, and have sport oversight responsibilities.

"Lisa is an outstanding administrator with the student-first mindset that I was looking for in this position,” said Alford. “She has great experience in most areas of intercollegiate athletics including the valuable perspective of having been both a coach and a student-athlete. She will be a great asset to our executive team.”

Before her stint at Austin Peay began in 2018, Varytimidis spent five seasons in various roles at the University of Louisiana Monroe, including serving as ULM’s senior woman administrator and director of compliance. During her career at ULM, she had a variety of roles including oversight of several sports and both the academic and compliance offices. She also served as the Title IX Coordinator and Title IX sexual assault investigator.

Varytimidis was the Warhawks’ head volleyball coach from 2000-04 following head coaching stops at Nicholls State (1999-2000) and Bethune-Cookman (1997-99). She was an academic counselor and study hall coordinator at ULM from 2013-16.

“I’m excited about becoming a part of Seminoles Athletics,” Varytimidis said. “Florida State University and the Tallahassee community are rich in tradition and success, and I thank Michael Alford for affording me the opportunity to continue my passion for serving, motivating and developing a valuable group of individuals…Seminole student-athletes.”

Varytimidis played volleyball at Barton County Community College before playing her junior year at Georgia and her senior season at then-Northeast Louisiana University (now ULM). She earned her Master's degree in Sport Administration from Grambling State in 2006. From 2006-13, Varytimidis served as the athletic director in addition to being a coach and physical education instructor at Monroe's Grace Episcopal School.

She has given numerous presentations throughout her professional career, ranging from eligibility to Title IX., including a speech on African Americans in Sport Management and Their Experiences in Doctoral Programs in Nicosia, Cyprus.

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