Arnie Chavera became the director of athletics & community recreation at Black Hawk College in 2019.
He serves as the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 4 Men’s Director and is the treasurer of the Arrowhead Athletic Conference. He sits on three NJCAA National Committees – Division 2 Baseball, Division 2 Men’s Soccer and Division 3 Men’s Basketball.
NJCAA Hall of Fame
In 2018, Chavera was inducted into the NJCAA Region 4 Hall of Fame. He is the all-time winningest baseball coach at Black Hawk College with 490 wins during his 16-year coaching career. During his tenure, the Braves won 11 Conference Championships and 11 Sectional Championships and in 2019, they were the NJCAA Division II Region 4 Runner-up.
Coaching achievements
Chavera placed more than 130 sophomores at NCAA DI, DII, DIII and NAIA schools as well as Major League Baseball to continue their playing careers. While stressing academics, he coached 136 Academic All-Conference and 24 NJCAA Academic All-American award recipients.
Chavera served as the college’s interim athletic director from July 2019 to June 2020, tasked with providing support for community recreation while also continuing to serve as the college’s head baseball coach. On July 1, 2020, he was named the permanent director of athletics & community recreation and stepped down from his coaching duties.
Before arriving at Black Hawk College, Chavera was an assistant baseball coach at St. Ambrose University (2002-04) and Assumption High School (2001-02).
Personal background
A native of Texas, he graduated from Arlington Sam Houston High School in 1991 and played two years at Navarro Junior College in Corsicana, TX. During that time, he was coached by Skip Johnson, current head baseball coach for the University of Oklahoma. After playing one year at Dallas Baptist University under legendary coach Jim Harp, Chavera signed with the Houston Astros and played in the minor leagues for five seasons as a catcher. Three of those seasons were under the tutelage of Manny Acta, former MLB manager of the Cleveland Indians and Washington Nationals and current bench coach for the Seattle Mariners.
As a professional baseball player, Chavera has a lifetime batting average of .286 highlighted by 61 homeruns and 77 doubles. In 2000, he earned a mid-season and post-season All-Star selection.