Introducing the Iowa City Area Sports Commission’s February Playmaker of the Month, Sarah Swanson!
Once a month, we will be highlighting our sports community members during a time of year they work closely with our team.
Tell us about your current title, daily roles, and how you got to the Summit League.
I am the Assistant Commissioner for the Sports, Championships, and Student-Athlete Services for the Summit League – a NCAA DI Conference spread across the Midwest. In my role, I oversee a variety of our sports including volleyball, softball, soccer, and swimming and diving. With that I manager the coordination and planning of the Championships, League schedules, officiating operations, sport specific contracts, and sport regulations. I also get to lead our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and organize a variety of our student-athlete initiatives, programs, and events. As a former college athletes and high school coach, sports have always been a huge part of my life. However, it took me a few years to realize I wanted to work in college athletics. After college, I got into the recreation industry and spent 6 years as the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Garner, Iowa. From there, I decided I wanted to get my masters and transition into college athletics which took me to Upper Iowa University. While in Fayette, I served in several different roles for the Peacocks, but I spent a majority of my time as Associate AD for Internal Operations and Senior Women Administrator. I loved my time at UIU, but after 5 years, I was ready for a new challenge and to elevate my career which brought me to the Summit League.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
There’s nothing better than getting to positively impact and provide memorable experiences to our student-athletes. Whether that’s bringing our championships to life or working with them on league-wide initiatives and programming, the opportunity to make a difference for our students-athletes is why I do what I do.
Favorite championships that the Summit League hosts.
Our Basketball Championships – It’s one of the premier “mid-major” tournaments across the country. Not only is it awesome to see all the hard work and preparation come to life, but I also love seeing the amazing fan support the community provides our athletes.
What goals do you have for the organization?
My main goal is to provide student-athletes top notch experiences. In many cases, the Summit League Championships are the finale of our athletes’ season/career, so we want them to be memorable and feel like big time events. Another goal of mine is to increase engagement across our SAAC and help our student-athletes have a voice on the matters they care about and issues that impact them. On the competition side of things, I’d love to see more of our sports consistently receive two-bids into the NCAA tournaments.
Favorite part about visiting the Iowa City community for the Summit League Swimming & Diving Championships.
I’m an Iowa girl at heart so I’m excited to be back “home” for the week. Plus, the Iowa Aquatics staff and the Iowa City Area Sports Commission crew are some of the best in the business so I’m looking forward to working with them.
View photos from the 2025 Summit League Swimming & Diving Championships held in Iowa City, Iowa.