27 chosen for first WIAA Student-Athlete Leadership Team
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association has identified 27 student-athletes to serve on the inaugural Student-Athlete Leadership Team in 2024-25. The Board of Control authorized the executive staff to move forward with plans to establish the WIAA Student-Athlete Leadership Team in January, beginning with identification of 27 student-athletes across the state interested in serving on the leadership team that includes a number of officer positions.
The purpose of the Student Leadership Team is to serve as ambassadors for their peers and the WIAA while learning more about the sports industry. Their involvement will provide a student-athlete voice in the WIAA and will assist in supporting, educating and advancing the purpose of interscholastic athletics. The Leadership Team will engage in an advisory role without rule-making authority, but their input will be conveyed and have an impact at the various levels of the committee process.
Additional benefits include instilling leadership skills; compiling diverse ideas and perspective from different areas of the state; learning more about the many career opportunities in sports professions; getting a better understanding of how the WIAA functions; sharing the many positive, lifeenriching experiences the association creates each season; and creating the interest and growth of student-athlete leadership groups at local schools.
Members of the Leadership Team submitted an application form and a short introductory video to express their interest in serving on the team. The WIAA received 289 applications.
The number of representatives from each district is determined by a percentage of member schools in each of the seven districts. The following are the names and school affiliations of the first Student-Athlete Leadership Team sorted by district.
District 1: Sawyer Jones, Jr., New Auburn; Chloe Lee, Sr., Lake Holcombe; Nevaeh Nwachukwu, Jr., St. Croix Falls.
District 2: Emma Bowden, Sr., Pittsville; Ginger Gerndt, Jr., Suring; Cody Vojta, Sr., Northland Pines.
District 3: Tori Creighton, Jr., Alma; Elizabeth Curtis, Jr., Westby; Charles Strayer, Sr., Eau Claire Memorial.
District 4: Campbell Booth, Sr., Plymouth; Julianne Bradford, Sr., De Pere; Emma Resop, Jr., Ripon; Cooper Smith, Jr., Marinette; Caeden Steuerwald, Sr., Oostburg.
District 5: Owen Barnet, Jr., Edgewood; Blake Brancel, Jr., Portage; Mia Riley, Sr., Janesville Parker.
District 6: Axell Allain, Sr., Columbus; Megan Doherty, Sr., Watertown; Kiernan Kawleski, Jr., Jefferson; Brett Kitzmiller, Sr., Elkhorn.
District 7: Jackson Buckley, Sr., Milwaukee King; Hannah Christianson, Sr., Brookfield East; Jonathan Orth, Sr., The Prairie School; Trevor Polite, Sr., Homestead; Max Reeve, Jr., Shorewood; Daniella Riemer, Sr., Divine Savior Holy Angels.
It is anticipated that student-athletes on the team will engage in four meetings per year, attend WIAA state tournaments each season, plan and participate in the fall area meetings for student-athletes, as well as organize and participate in an annual Student-Athlete Leadership Conference that will merge with and envelop the Sportsmanship Summit beginning in 2025.
The Leadership Team’s orientation virtual meeting is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 18.
