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WoSIDA Women to Watch Feature Archive
WoSIDA Women to Watch
Kiaira Cooper, Assistant Media Relations Director
University of Idaho
by Chevonne Mansfield – LEAD1 Association, Director of Communications
Kiaira Cooper is in her first year as Assistant Director of Media Relations at University of Idaho where she is the primary contact for women’s basketball and volleyball. A former NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Grant recipient, Cooper made stops at Houghton College and Covenant College, her alma mater, before joining the Idaho athletics staff. She also has attended the annual winter NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar (ELS), an annual professional development event that provides effective leadership, educational and transitional programing for more than 200 current graduate assistants and interns from NCAA membership schools, conference offices and affiliate organizations.
Tell us about your career path. You have your MBA as well as wide-ranging experiences in marketing, game operations, facilities, and coaching.
KC: I started as an assistant women’s basketball coach at my alma mater, a NCAA Division III school, Covenant College (in Lookout Mountain, Georgia). Covenant gave me the opportunity to not only coach college basketball, but also manage game operations for baseball and softball. You have to wear multiple hats working in Division III, so at times I took on other responsibilities in facilities management, marketing, and communications.
After getting a taste of life in athletics administration, I decided to transition from coaching. That is when I was offered an opportunity at another DIII school, Houghton College, as part of the NCAA Ethnic Minorities and Women's Internship Grant Program. That job was wide open regarding what I was doing day to day. I did everything from helping with compliance to programming for diversity initiatives. I soon dug into communications and marketing. That’s where I fell in love with the idea of telling the stories of the student-athletes.
Getting my MBA was probably the best decision I’ve ever made because I was able to get an understanding of how to do business, especially business in sports. I already had a wealth of experience in many different aspects of college athletics, and this was a way to figure out how to use all those skills to help me advance in my career.
A trio of attendees at the 2018 Women’s Leaders in College Sports national convention in Atlanta: Megan Sawatzky, Saint John’s (Minn.) assistant facilities coordinator, Cooper and Kayla Lawrence, Bryn Mawr College assistant athletics communications director.
You were an NCAA Division III basketball student-athlete. How has your student-athlete experience helped you in your role at Idaho?
KC: I played basketball at Covenant College for four years. I was also a fifth-year senior due to a season-ending injury. I mentioned my fifth-year because I believe that was probably the single most important thing that happened to me as a student-athlete. I had been the starting point guard since my freshman year. I was asked to play a leadership role early without any experience. Even with that opportunity as a freshman, it wasn’t until my junior year when I sat out the season, that I really understood what a leader is supposed to do. That year I learned to be vocal and lead not only by action but by my words of affirmation and encouragement.
Being a student-athlete has given me the courage to not listen to limitations other people put on me. I’ve always heard that it’s hard to transition into Divison I athletics with a Division III background … that it is almost impossible due to the lack of experience in DI.
I worked my tail off going to a rigorous, private academic-focused school while playing a sport that is nearly a full year in duration. During my junior year, I not only learned leadership skills but also how to be resilient. I could have easily been bitter about not playing and possibly someone taking my starting spot. I learned that all I can control is my perspective and how hard I work. Resiliency, leadership and controlling internal things rather than the external has helped me thrive at Idaho.
Who are some of your mentors?
KC: The women in my family: my mom, aunt and grandmother are my biggest cheerleaders. I would consider them my early mentors as they shaped me into the woman I am now. Over the past couple years I’ve been able to create relationships and be mentored by four women: Courtney Lovely, Senior Associate AD for Internal Operations and the SWA at Palm Beach Atlantic University; Alicia English, Assistant AD for External Operations at Abilene Christian University; Akilah Laster, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at the University of California; and Deanna Hand, Associate AD for Sports Medicine and Administration at Houghton College. They each have played a big role in my development personally and professionally.
What obstacles or challenges have you overcome in your career? How did you get through them and what did you learn from them?
KC: One obstacle I faced was being pigeonholed as a Divison III coach or administrator, implying that my experience is only good for that level.
Having the opportunity to work at Idaho and cover women’s basketball and volleyball, two dominant women’s sports, is a dream come true. The obstacle was getting to this level of athletics. It was a daily struggle to quiet the comments about never being able to reach my dreams. I think I was able to overcome my struggle by keeping my eye on the prize. I controlled what I was able to control — my perspective and growing where I was planted.
I learned that the limitations other people set on you don’t reflect your ability to do the job. It’s always good to never stop being a student. Use every opportunity as a tool to help you grow.
How do you decompress after a stressful event/week/season?
KC: Lately, it’s been watching movies and television shows. I’m a former student-athlete so of course, I love to play basketball or join a fun ultimate frisbee game. When it’s cold outside, you can find me enjoying a movie or binge watching a show with friends.
What is your most prized possession?
KC: That is a hard question. I feel like I do not get attached to many things to call it a prized possession. I would have to say, as cheesy as it is, my memories of special moments in my life. Those are something people cannot take away from me.