Connecticut College Athletic Hall of Fame
In a career that spanned five decades, Fran Shields brought the men’s lacrosse program at Connecticut College into national prominence, improved the competitiveness of the school’s 28 sports in the NESCAC as the director of athletics, significantly enhanced athletics fundraising, and enriched the lives of countless colleagues and student-athletes.
Appointed in the fall of 1980 by the late Director of Athletics Charles Luce as men’s lacrosse coach for a third-year varsity program, Shields would lead the Camel lacrosse team to a 170-138 (,552) record in 23 seasons, including four Top 20 national rankings, an ECAC New England Division III championship in 1996, an ECAC runner-up in 1998, and 12 All-America players. In a nine-year stretch from 1990-98, Shields led the Camels to nine consecutive postseason appearances while posting an impressive 56-33 (.629) record against NESCAC competition. Shields’ program also featured extensive travel experiences for his student-athletes including Australia, England, and spring break competitions in Tampa, Charlottesville, San Diego and Philadelphia. Shields was named USILA Division III Coach of the Year in 1993.
Shields was a leader at all levels of sport. At the national level, he has served as Chair of the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Committee (2011-12) and as a committee member in 2009 and 2010. At the conference level, he has been a member of the NESCAC AD Executive Committee since 2011, and chaired the conference in 2011-2012 and 2012-13. He has served on the NESCAC committee on the NCAA Sportsmanship and Woman of the Year selection since 2008.
Named athletics director in 2003, Shields oversaw $16 million in facilities improvements for athletics, including the Artificial Turf at Silfen Field (2005), the Lee and Ann Higdon Fitness Center (2009), the renovation of the South Tennis Courts (2011), the installation of an indoor Mondo-10 tennis playing surface in the Charles Luce Field House (2016), the lighting of the turf field and track (2012), improvements to spectator seating in Dayton Arena, and the renovation of six team rooms and the athletic training room (2012). Shields oversaw 28 intercollegiate varsity programs with over 500 student-athletes practicing and competing in several major facilities used by teams and the local community. In addition, he supervised over 50 coaches and support professionals during his 16-year tenure.
Camel teams improved their winning percentage against NESCAC competition from 20% to a 40% win rate. Conn’s teams experienced a 40% increase in NESCAC playoff berths, averaging five of the eight standings teams earning conference postseason opportunities, including the school’s first NESCAC home playoff games. In 2014, the women’s soccer team won the school’s first NESCAC team championship. With Shields at the helm, Camel teams increased their number of NCAA championship berths and won the first seven of the school’s individual NCAA championships. More than 75% of All-American honors by Camel student-athletes in school history occurred during Shields’ tenure.
Named the College's inaugural Director of the Camel Athletics Network (CAN) in 2019, Shields helped the Advancement team raise over $10 million in his four years as a major gift officer. His 40+ years of relationships with thousands of student-athletes and parents helped athletics achieve record annual fundraising, donor participation and several major gifts supporting sport team annual operating expenses, program endowment funds and facility upgrades.
Shields was active in the local community, for years coordinating and supervising the use of Connecticut College athletics facilities for local school groups, camps and jamborees. He is a co-founder of East Lyme youth lacrosse. For three summers (1992-94), he administered the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP), overseeing the transportation, activities and meals for over 300 New London youths in 5-week sports and life skills programming on the Connecticut College campus. NYSP was a grant awarded by the NCAA and the Department of Health and Human Services. Shields created “Camels for Whalers”, an after school tutoring program with Camel student-athletes helping New London students at New London High School.
A native of Geneva, New York, Shields earned a bachelor of science degree in Physical Education from St. Lawrence University in 1979 and a master of science degree in Physical Education from Ithaca College in 1985. He was captain and second team All-American at attack at St. Lawrence in 1979. Shields graduated with the school’s all-time record for points scored and has been inducted into the St. Lawrence University Athletics Hall of Fame twice (individual in 1994 and as a member of his 1979 NCAA Division II-II semifinalist team, inducted in 2008). He was inducted into the Geneva (NY) Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997.
