By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- He was hired to be the first sports information director at the former Bridgewater State College in 1982.
Forty years later, Michael Storey finished his career in the athletics department at Bridgewater State University having handled a number of different assignments.
Story began as the SID/intramurals director and retired from BSU in 2022 as the Associate Director of Athletics.
"I think I covered every position in the office, except for equipment manager and trainer," said Story with a laugh. "I did compliance, budgets, the schedules, sports information, intramurals."
One of those duties was working on the BSU Athletics Hall of Fame, beginning with its first year in 1986 and being the chairman for 29 years.
Now, after all the work that Storey has done for the Bears' program, Storey is heading into the BSU Hall of Fame.
Story is one of six people who will be inducted during a ceremony on Homecoming Weekend, the event taking place on Friday night, Oct. 17, at the Rondileau Student Union Ballroom.
"It's a great honor," said Storey. "I know what the whole process is like being part of the committee since its inception in '86 and being the chair for 29 years.
"I know what it entails and what it means to the people who do get inducted. The people we induct are quality people, so I feel pretty fortunate.
"It's a culmination of my career at Bridgewater."
Storey had never been to the town of Bridgewater or the campus when he applied for the SID/intramurals director job in '82.
He had graduated from Concordia University, playing football for the Stingers, in 1978 with a degree in biology and earned a graduate degree in sports administration in 1980.
Storey then moved to Boston where he was the SID at the University of Massachusetts Boston for a year and a half.
UMass Boston and Boston State College were in the process of a merger at that time, and when the job at Bridgewater State opened, Storey decided to apply.
"Mary Barrett, who was at UMass Boston, was good friends with Harry Lehmann (a former coach and athletic administrator at Bridgewater State) through her time with Boston State and the MASCAC," said Storey. "She told me about the job and put in a good word for me. And the rest is history."
After working as the school's first SID and leading the intramurals, Storey eventually became an Associate Director of the department in 1998.
He helped coordinate 22 athletic programs, helped found the Hall of Fame and served on committees with the NCAA and ECAC. Storey was on the NCAA Football Rules Committee and the Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports Committee.
During his 40 years in the department, Storey saw numerous changes.
"When I first got there, it was kind of like rotating presidents and athletic directors back in the '80s," said Storey, a Halifax resident for 30 years. "We had four presidents and six ADs in the '80s.
"Then John Harper (athletics director) and Adrian Tinsley (president) were hired and brought a lot of stability to the university.''
Storey said that when he started at Bridgewater State, there were two athletics directors and the department was supervised under the physical education department.
Eventually, one athletics director oversaw the department and it was under student affairs.
The BSU athletics department grew, thanks in large part to new facilities.
Alumni Park was built for the baseball and softball teams in 1995. The Tinsley Center, used by the basketball and volleyball teams in addition to housing the athletics department, opened in 2002 and the Edward C. Swenson Athletic Complex was upgraded in 2010.
"It brought us into the 20th century," said Storey. "We no longer had to play baseball at Legion Field, softball on a stone dust infield or in a gym (Kelly Gym) that was built in 1957."
Storey compiled many fond memories while working four decades on campus.
"Just the people there I'll remember," he said. "The highlights for the program were in the 1990s when we made our mark in the MASCAC and the NCAAs. We had baseball and softball teams going to the nationals and basketball had some good teams."
So after years of helping to select inductees into the BSU Athletics Hall of Fame, Michael Storey will hear his own name called on Oct. 17.
"It was great, no question," said Storey of being at Bridgewater. I met my wife (Laura) there. My kids (Jackie, Stephen and Mitchell) grew up around there."