by Jim Fenton, The Enterprise
BROCKTON –- Her association with Massasoit Community College began in 1981 as the women's basketball coach.
Julie Mulvey had just completed a standout career playing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she earned All-America honors as a senior in the 1980-81 season and ranks among the all-time leading scorers with 1,406 points.
A year later, Mulvey became Massasoit's first volleyball coach and an assistant athletics director, then later worked as the director of student life from 1995-2008.
But after 13 years away from the athletics department, the opportunity to return arose when Nick Palantzas left as the athletics director to eventually become a senior vice president at the school.
Mulvey became the third athletics director ever at Massaoit, joining Bruce Langlan and Palantzas, in the spring of 2008.
"When I went over there, I was thinking let me get four or five years in and I'll reevaluate,″ said Mulvey of becoming the AD. "The first year was difficult getting back in the swing of it and getting to know the people, the personalities at different schools, who to contact, and to learn all the rules again.″
But once Mulvey settled in, with the help of athletics department employees like Roly Landers and Marie Forrest, the job became one she truly enjoyed doing.
Mulvey recently retired from Massasoit after being a coach, director of student life and at the athletics director for the past 12 years with assistant Ben Warnick taking over.
"After that first year, time just flew,″ said Mulvey. "It's unbelievable how fast that time went. We had a good crew with Roly Landers and Marie Forrest and Julie Beckward and everyone. They made my transition easier.″
Mulvey added men's and women's track and field plus golf during her tenure, and the women's basketball team was among the best in the nation this season, losing only once. The men's soccer team consistently wins the Region 21 championship and volleyball returned last fall after a long absence and made the national tourney.
These are challenging times for junior college teams to find enough players. Other schools in the region have reduced their programs, but Massasoit has continued to grow.
Mulvey said she will miss the interactions with the student-athletes and watching their growth over two years at the junior college level.
"It was just so much fun,″ she said. "I get so much from the students. I still laugh when I think about the things they say and the things they do. They bring so much, and to see them blossom is just incredible. It's been a great job. I couldn't have had a better job. It was a great run.
"I'll miss the students and the people I work with. They're all so committed and dedicated to what they do. They do it for the love of the sport and the kids. I could call any one of my coaches and they'd step up and do whatever I asked. They all pitched in.″
Mulvey, the former Julie Ready, graduated from Whitman-Hanson Regional High and was twice nominated as the national player of the year while at UMass.
She is the program's leader with a .545 career field-goal percentage and ranks second in points per game in a season (20.7) and a career (1.65) in addition to being third in total rebounds (831) and rebounds per game (9.8).
Mulvey was inducted into the UMass Hall of Fame in 2014.