Gary Lhotsky, a Bridgeport native who serves as a teaching associate professor for the School of Sport Sciences in the College of Applied Human Sciences, has been selected for the February Faculty Feature.
Lhotsky moved to Bridgeport when he was 13 and stayed through his junior year of college at PennWest Edinboro, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in speech communication sciences and disorders.
Although he only lived in Bridgeport for seven years, he has always considered it home and a place he hoped to settle back in one day.
“I remember seeing the position I am in now advertised on HigherEdJobs.com and I literally started shaking. It was the perfect opportunity to return to the place I consider home,” he said. “The cover letter I wrote when I applied to WVU is the best cover letter I have ever written, and I am so grateful it all worked out and I am here.”
Lhotsky teaches Sport Facility Management, Sport Event Management, Legal Issues in Sport and Contemporary Issues in Sport Management, while also overseeing the admissions process for the on-campus Master of Science in Sports Management program.
Ultimately, he helps prepare students for careers in the sports industry by blending academic theory with hands-on experience in team, facility and event management. These experiential networking opportunities include site visits to Pittsburgh professional sports teams such as the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins.
Such experiences are hallmarks of the WVU Sport Management program.
To foster both personal and professional growth, Lhotsky advises his students to step out of their comfort zones, a lesson he learned while earning his master’s degree in sports management at Georgia Southern University. Faced with internship offers from WVU Football Operations and the University of Miami Department of Athletics, he took the unfamiliar path and chose Miami.
“Being a kid from Bridgeport and moving to Miami was a total culture shock, but stepping out of my comfort zone was the best decision I ever made,” he said. “Achieving success despite the challenges helped me grow and gave me so much confidence.”
His experience at the University of Miami also led to athletic roles at Florida International University and Florida State University. While at FSU, he earned his doctoral degree in sport administration — a milestone that ignited his passion for teaching.
While he cites plenty of reasons to love West Virginia, he often jokes that he’s only here because of the 1988 Class AA State Championship. That year, the game was moved from Charleston’s Laidley Field to Mountaineer Field, where Lhotsky caught the winning two-point conversion pass off a fake extra point kick in the fourth overtime to lead Bridgeport High School to a 29-28 victory.
“Teaching in the same stadium that changed my life feels unbelievable,” he said. “It’s surreal to lead my Facility Management class through Milan Puskar Stadium and point to the exact spot I caught the winning ball 37 years ago.”
“Most of the students think it is an amazing story, and some think I’m just an old guy reliving my glory days. I’d say they’re all right,” he laughingly added.
Lhotsky and his wife, Wanda, have three sons: Christopher, Nathan and Kaden. The family looks forward to cheering on Nathan this fall as he transfers to Glenville State University after playing football for Virginia Military Institute.
Nominate a University faculty member for a future Faculty Feature by sending an email to enews@mail.wvu.edu.