Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Minutes
September 12, 2018

Meeting was called to order with the following members present: Carly Campbell, Sydney Lane, Riley Bell, Halle Brester, Faith Carpenter, Payton Douglass, Sydney Hartsock, Jasmine Rumley, Maddie Peterson, Carli Spelhaug and Reegan Zinkula.  Jean Berger, Gary Ross, Jason Eslinger, and Lisa Brinkmeyer represented the IGHSAU.

Eslinger provided the history and evolution of the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union.  Eslinger shared the rationale for the creation and the steadfast philosophy of the IGHSAU.

Berger welcomed Committee members to the inaugural meeting.  She spoke about being a leader and the importance of leadership. In addition, Berger spoke about transformational (how we do) vs transaction (checking off what we do)…leaders who are transformational change lives.  She encouraged the Committee to focus on the process.

An ice-breaker activity was led by Brinkmeyer.  Committee members shared their name, high school, hometown, sports they participated in, something unique about them, and a common link to the previous member that was introduced.  Committee members enjoyed interacting and were able to get to know each other better.

Meeting dates were discussed for the 2018-19 school year.  The Committee supported three face-to-face meetings during the school year:  fall meeting on Wednesday, September 12; winter meeting in late January on a Wednesday; and a spring meeting at the beginning of May on a Wednesday. In addition, Committee members will assist at the State Volleyball and State Basketball Tournaments.  Committee members will serve as ambassadors to greet and assist state-qualifying teams.

Brinkmeyer asked for feedback for the Committee’s goals and expectations for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.  The Committee shared the following suggestions:

  1. A source of communication related to girls’ sports in their respective areas of the state.
  2. Share with students, staff and communities the value and importance of having the current structure of the four activity organizations (IGHSAU, IHSAA, IHSMA, IHSSA).
  3. Provide feedback to the IGHSAU to build on the current sports and experiences.
  4. Create more awareness for sports that do not receive the same attention/focus at the local and state levels as some of the other sports receive.
  5. Sportsmanship-related ideas – IGHSAU posters for locker rooms, video board PSAs with Student-Athlete Advisory members; signage at venues, recordings from the students to be read at events.
  6. Engaging crowds at the state tournaments – providing “theme” days for the students and spectators – competitions for schools to receive prizes. Ideas to increase student-spirit.
  7. Feature Student-Athlete Advisory Committee members with their impact in their home districts.

The Committee participated in a group activity of structuring the Class 5A Regional volleyball parings.   The Committee was divided into three groups.  Committee members were given the list of the forty Class 5A schools, Class 5A rankings, map of the 5A schools and brackets to structure the pairings.  Committee members worked together to create the pairings through problem-solving and compromise. Following the activity, the Committee members shared their Regional assignments, discussed their challenges and shared what they learned from the activity.

The Committee members were given a tour of the IGHSAU.  Students compiled information to be shared via social media to help with communication amongst the group.

With no further business, meeting adjourned at 2:00 pm.

Gary Ross
IGHSAU