Hall of Fame
Harold “Skip” Lord built a career and legacy as a servant of Christ through athletics. He boasts a .698 (164-71) record in women’s volleyball and a .551 (364-297) record in women’s basketball. Those 528 combined wins pale in significance when compared to the lives Skip impacted for Christ. His heart for student-athletes and coaches has been a staple of his 30 years as a coach and administrator in intercollegiate athletics.
Upon graduation from Houghton College in 1980, Skip coached in the high school ranks for several years before returning to Houghton to lead the women’s basketball and volleyball programs in 1987. Skip’s basketball teams participated in six national championships, two in the NCCAA and four in the NAIA, while volleyball advanced to one in the NCCAA. He was named Conference Coach of the Year, Region Coach of the Year, and was a national finalist for the WBCA Coach of the Year. In 1997, Skip was promoted from Assistant Athletics Director to Athletics Director. He retired from coaching at the end of the 2011-2012 season and became Houghton’s first full-time Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Under Skip’s leadership, Houghton’s athletic department became known for sports ministry, character development, academic excellence, and athletic achievement. Houghton’s student-athletes regularly appeared in All-Conference, All-Regional, and All-America lists, and more importantly Scholar-Athlete and Scholar Team lists. In 2001 and 2008, Skip was named one of four winners in the NAIA Athletic Director of the Year Award. He was a two-time NAIA Northeast Region Male Administrator of the Year, a three-time Conference Administrator of the Year, and was named 1999-2000 NAIA Region IX Athletics Director of the Year.
Sports ministry has long been a hallmark of Houghton’s athletic department and continued to gain focus under Skip’s direction, as teams and individuals regularly served locally and abroad. Skip guided his women’s basketball teams to the Czech Republic on 14 mission trips. In 2002, he was named as Volunteer Coordinator of Sports Ministry for Wesleyan World Missions (now Global Partners). Skip’s true impact may best be told by his former student-athlete and NCCAA Hall of Famer, Judy Fox who said, “Coach Lord is a man whose success is surpassed only by his unwavering Christlikeness and who has literally touched the world. Every life mine touches is to his credit.”
Wendy Rose, former student-athlete, stated, “Coach Lord was always there to check on us, whether it was family losses, health conditions, or academic issues. His Christlikeness, Godly example, and influence have carried me through the darkest times of my whole life while attending college and even today.”
“Throughout Skip’s coaching and athletic career, he has never been bashful about his faith,” said Mike Faro, retired Roberts Wesleyan College Athletics Director. “He has travelled the world with his various teams on mission trips, showing the love of Christ while serving others. Skip has been a role model to me and to so many others with his Christian witness.”
Gary Pine, Azusa Pacific University Director of Athletics said, “I have found Skip to be amazingly consistent, firm, and determined, and yet extremely humble and appropriate in all of his interactions and communications. His character and treatment of people demand one’s respect for his personhood and viewpoints.”
The NCCAA is honored to induct Harold “Skip” Lord into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020.