Westfield State University

Dave Caspole was named Associate Director of Athletics for External Affairs and media relations in August 2014.

Caspole spent the previous seven years in the development office at Westfield, where he served as Senior Development Coordinator for Athletics and the Assistant Director of Development.

In his current role, Caspole oversees the WestfieldStateOwls.com website (which was redeveloped in 2018), web stream broadcasts, game day live stats, social media and media relations, as well as working with the fundraising and development programs such as the Annual Owl Club Golf Tournament and the corporate sponsorship programs.

Caspole’s efforts also championed fundraising endeavors that brought Westfield State ice hockey back to varsity status in 2008, saw the track named after longtime head coach Jerry Gravel in 2009, and the naming and renovation of Hagan Field (baseball) and the softball field in 2017.  Most recently he led fundraising efforts which resulted in the construction and upgrade the Owls' ice hockey locker room at Amelia Park Arena.

A 1994 graduate of Westfield State University with a degree in Mass Communication, Caspole worked as a student under the direction of Owls’ Hall of Fame sports information director Mickey Curtis, while serving as the lead play by play announcer for Owls football, basketball and baseball on WSKB-FM radio from 1992-94.

After graduation, Caspole worked as assistant SID at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y., and was promoted to the head sports information role a year later. He worked for four years with the Hawks NCAA Division I men’s soccer team, and women’s field hockey and women’s lacrosse final four teams among a number of successful programs.

Caspole spent two years at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt., where he promoted the school’s 19-sport NCAA Division II programs, including serving as the host SID for the 1999 NCAA Division II men’s ice hockey championship series, which saw the Purple Knights claim the national championship, send several artifacts to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, and throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park for a Red Sox game where the national champions were recognized.

He later spent one year at RIT, where he worked with the Tigers men’s ice hockey team which went unbeaten through the regular season, and hosted the 2001 NCAA Division III ice hockey frozen four.  The Tigers were featured in USA today during the run.  Other athletic media placements through the years have included the New York Times, Boston Globe, Sportschannel New York, ESPN and Sports Illustrated.

Caspole later served as the SID and assistant director of public affairs at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, where he covered the Cadets run to the 2003 NCAA Division III ice hockey title, and hosted the 2003 and 2004 Division III Frozen Fours.  The Cadets received widespread media coverage, including on the CBS sports winter championship show, and threw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game.  Caspole’s other duties included managing media relations the campus’ Colby Military Writers Symposium with noted authors W.E.B. Griffin and Joe Galloway.

After a stint doing freelance public relations work in New York City, Caspole returned to college athletics to spend another year at Hartwick, where he promoted the Hawks men’s soccer and women’s water polo runs to the NCAA Division I tournaments, including the water polo Elite 8 in Davis, Calif., before returning to his alma mater to serve as the first ever development officer for the athletic department.

Caspole created the Owl Club fundraising program, and the Owl Club Golf Tournament, which began in 2007, and has raised more than $250,000  to support Westfield State athletic teams, as well as working with annual fund operations and major gift solicitations that have yielded more than half a million dollars in support of the Owls.

Caspole has served as a radio play by play announcer for the 1993 Division III College World Series in Battle Creek, Mich., the 1996 Division III Field Hockey National Championship, Hartwick College football and done color for local TV for the 2005 Frozen Four semifinals, and periodically filled in on Westfield State webstream broadcasts.

He has worked with significant sporting events throughout his career, including as a volunteer at the press center for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics games at the tennis venue in Stone Mountain, Ga., hosting four NCAA Ice Hockey championship events, and staffing four NCAA Division III field hockey final fours as a radio and public address announcer.  He worked with the NCAA Division II Elite 8 in Springfield, Mass., and the Division I Metro-Atlantic Conference basketball tournaments in Springfield as well.  At Hartwick, he hosted media operations for several international soccer matches at Hartwick with the National Soccer Hall of Fame, including the US Under-23 team, and the US Women’s National Team in the run up to the 1999 World Cup.  He also served several years as a lead statistician for Harvard University home football games, and has statted UMass Football at Gillette Stadium.