I would like to nominate Kylie Katers for the 2019 Lance Vermeil Scholarship. Kylie joined our staff in June 2018 and many dominoes had to fall in the correct path in order for this to happen. In late April, Kylie reached out to us about a graduate assistant posting that had just been filled, but she kept in communication ad as if it was meant to happen, another of our GA's took a position in his hometown and we began looking. Kylie was an easy choice at the time and little did we know that it was easily the best choice overall.
As most first year graduate assistants Kylie had experience as an undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and had just finished an internship at the University of Wisconsin. This gave her some experience in a DIII athletic setting in the sports performance center and also in a DI environment where she assisted with men's and women's basketball, hockey and golf while being able to get direct experience with cheer and dance. During this time she also competed competitively in both power lifting and more recently Olympic weight lifting.
Kylie has shown dedication on the education front as well. When she arrived she had certifications from USA Weightlifting (Level 1), ACSM (CPT), and International Society of Sports Nutrition (CISSN) all accomplished as she finished her degree in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Wisonsin-Lacrosse. While impressive as a young coach since joining our staff she has added certifications through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS), Functional Movement Systems (FMS Level 1), and Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR Level 1) all at the same time as starting her master’s degree in Kinesiology at the University of Mary.
While all of the above information could be enough to nominate alone it does not truly speak to how Kylie has grown and what she brings to our staff. Since day one she has been a sponge and has watched and learned. Not just from observation or a book but also under the bar. She started by doing a red-shirt workout for our football program and has progressed to designing her own programs to see what may or may not work for her student-athletes. Although her title may say graduate assistant, she has grown to the point where she handles herself more like a full-time assistant coach. Currently she designs and implements programs for men's soccer, women's swimming and diving, and softball while assisting with football and track and field. She is a tremendous asset to our staff and student-athletes and I am excited to see what her future holds.
