Aphten Goldman from Colorado Springs, Colo. has been named to the new position of director of business development for USA Wrestling, the national governing body for wrestling in the United States. She began her new position at USA Wrestling’s national headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. January 3.
“USA Wrestling is very fortunate to bring such incredible talent to the organization. We are thrilled to add Aphten Goldman to our staff and confident in her future success with our team,” said USA Wrestling’s CEO. Rich Bender.
Goldman will direct USA Wrestling’s business development. This includes generating new and incremental revenue through affiliate sales. She will oversee USA Wrestling’s corporate partnership solicitation process, from ideation and prospecting, through contract negotiation and completion, as well as overseeing sponsorship compliance. It will also help generate new assets, concepts and promotional opportunities for the organization leading to revenue growth.
“Wrestling has been a part of my life since day one and it’s a sport and community that I truly love. I am excited to be back in this world, using my skills and experience to help further our mission here at USA Wrestling,” said Aphten Goldman.
Goldman comes to USA Wrestling after serving as vice president, fundraising and development for the Boys & Girls Club of the Pikes Peak Region, located in Colorado Springs. She led the day-to-day operations of donor and partner cultivation and management for this non-profit organization. In this position, Goldman significantly increased fundraising revenue from a variety of sources and helped increase individual giving by 250%.
She previously served as director of membership for ClubCorp in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from 2018 to 2020, where she managed membership sales, community relations and helped design strategic initiatives for the teams. It increased membership revenue by 28% in 2019.
Goldman served as director of business programs for the US Air Force Academy Alumni Association from 2017 to 2018, where she fostered community relationships with alumni, businesses and individuals. She managed to achieve a growth of 13% in relation to the planned goals through an increase in sponsorship sales.
She also served two years as Director of Sales for the US Air Force Academy Athletic Association from 2015 to 2017. She led the functions involved in managing ticket sales in five revenue sports. She recruited, trained and directed sales staff dealing with season tickets, partial plans, premium sales and group tickets. She led the team to the highest ticket revenue for ice hockey in 2015-16. In 2016, under her leadership, the US Air Force Academy achieved the 15th largest year-over-year attendance percentage increase in the Div. I football.
Goldman has previous experience on the USA Wrestling staff, interning as a civil service assistant. While attending Indiana University as an undergraduate, Goldman served as head of the wrestling team for the Indiana Athletic Department.
She comes from a wrestling background. Her father, Duane Goldman, was a four-time NCAA finalist and 1986 NCAA champion for the University of Iowa, and was the head coach of the Div. Indiana University wrestling program for 26 years.
Goldman earned a bachelor’s degree in health care administration from Indiana University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.