IQA announces new board members
I am proud to inform IQA players and fans that the...
The three candidates were selected after an open call for applications and a lengthy review process, spearheaded by Harrison Homel (Board Member, Teams Director) and Alicia Radford (Secretary of the Board, Chief Operating Officer.) The new members joined another recent appointment, player representative Zach D'Amico, at the annual board meeting in Dallas, TX, this past September.
The board handles long-term decision making for the league and guides the league towards financial sustainability and fulfillment of the IQA's mission: to promote, govern and develop the sport of quidditch, and use it to inspire young people to lead more physically active and socially engaged lives.
You can see the rest of the board here, and meet the new members below:
Katie Stack founded the Boston University team and brought them to the second World Cup in 2008. Since then all of her three younger brothers and sister have played or are currently playing on the Boston University team, earning her family the unofficial title of "the Weasleys of the IQA".
Since September 2011, Katie has been the Director of Membership Services, the backbone of the league, which primarily comprises making sure that teams are paying their dues on time and also that teams are receiving the services and tournament registration that they have paid for. She has gone above and beyond the basic parameters of the job by establishing successful programs like the Mentor and Penpal programs.
On top of an impressive quidditch resume, Katie has worked as a Financial Analyst in BU's Office of Physical Education and Recreation, and learned a lot of about the policies and practices of other national club sports leagues. Katie also worked in Senator John Kerry's office in Washington D.C. in the summer of 2011 and gained a lot of experience and knowledge in US business and policy.
"I am ready to take my devotion to quidditch to the next level, and use my skills to influence a greater vision," Katie wrote in her cover letter. And what is that vision exactly? "I want to bring the perfect combination of childlike whimsy and serious, adult competition, to a greater global demographic for decades to come."
Three years ago Jacob Adlis was sitting in his dorm with his roommate Chris Morris trying to convince him to co-coach the new, unofficial University of Texas quidditch team. Last year the team was seeded #1 after World Cup pool play and this year has been approved as an official team that can now bear the college's official logo, the legendary Texas Longhorn.
But it's not just Jacob's impressively rapid team development that makes him an ideal candidate. Jacob also has an impressive background in financial analysis and management, based around a natural talent for recognizing opportunities for improvement in any financial model. This goes back to high school, when he doubled the marching band's fundraising revenue from $12,000 to $24,000 in one year, continued into college when he came up with the concept of the now famous Texas Quidditch calendar, and now will extend into post-college, where Jacob has already accepted a job offer at Evercore Partners, an investment banking advisory firm in New York City.
"I want with all of my heart for the sport of quidditch to expand as far and wide as it possibly can," he wrote in his cover letter. "I will constantly be looking several years down the road into what hurdles and opportunities the IQA will face along that path."
Dan Hanson has been playing quidditch since 2009, and was part of the famous Emerson mohawk squad in the third World Cup (which included capes attached by buckles to leather harnesses worn under jerseys.) That first bite by the quidditch bug left him totally addicted to the sport and has brought along with it a great boon to the community as a whole. Since then Dan has served as a rulebook writer and helped write the sixth version of the rulebook, and also founded the Southern California Quidditch Conference when he moved to LA after graduating (which currently boasts 16 teams.)
Dan is perhaps best known for his super officiating as a head ref, and subsequent instrumental role in developing the position of the referee in quidditch. He has improved this area both in terms of improving the technical aspects of officiating and improving respect both for and by referees. He is currently a director on the Referee Development Team and he has helped to develop and execute the new referee certification program on a national level.
However, Dan's greatest contribution to the IQA can't be measured in programs, roles, or written work. Rather, it is in his character and personality, which have created strong unity in the league wherever he goes, and given him a great diversity of experiences and perspective. Dan wrote in his cover letter, "as a player, captain, referee, and IQA volunteer, I offer a unique blend of perspectives to the board.... I believe I can be a voice that can help the synchronization of the players and the IQA.... We all want quidditch to be more legitimate, more accessible, and more popular. If the staff and teams all realize this and become more cooperative, the ceiling for quidditch's progress would be raised dramatically."
