Ryan Tegtmeier was selected by the NAIA to serve on the proposed Association of Student-Athletes (ASA).

Ryan Tegtmeier is one of 27 student-athletes announced by the NAIA National Office who will serve on the proposed Association of Student-Athletes (ASA), a new group to be added to the NAIA governance structure if approved at the annual convention in April.

Tegtmeier, a sophomore from Davenport, Neb., who is majoring in elementary education, is the starting point guard for Morningside’s men’s basketball team.

The proposed ASA would be the association’s first governance group made up entirely of students and function as the advocacy arm of the student-athlete collective. The ASA will include at least one representative from every conference, including the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.), and every NAIA championship sport.

Selection of the student-athlete representatives prior to convention was to ensure that the ASA could be functioning fully for the 2015-16 academic year.

“The ASA will allow student-athletes to have an input on the issues that directly impact them every day,” said Kent Paulson, Chair of the Conference Commissioners Association and Frontier Conference Commissioner. “This group will have the unique opportunity to discuss matters most important to them on the NAIA’s biggest stage.”

Members of the proposed ASA were selected from a pool of nominees forwarded to the National Office by each conference and the A.I.I.
The ASA will be an association under the proposed Council for Student-Athletes (CSA), a new council that focuses on student-athlete health, safety and development, also to be approved at convention. The CSA will comprise representatives from other councils as well as nine members of the ASA, including the four officers.

Some of the topics the ASA will discuss in the coming year include the student-athlete experience, health and safety of student-athletes and Champions of Character initiatives.

“The student-athletes who will make up the ASA are great representatives of and ambassadors for the NAIA,” said Jim Carr, NAIA President and CEO. “We look forward to begin conversations with the ASA so we can learn more about the ideas they will be bringing to the table.”

Each member of the ASA will serve a two-year term; however, in the first year of the ASA, half the representatives were randomly selected to end their term early to create a staggered rollover each year.