2019 Award Winner: Outstanding Leader – Ashley Stevens – National Collegiate Water Ski Association

Ashley Stevens is a senior at Clemson University studying Mechanical Engineering. In 2019 she served as the President of the Clemson University Ski Team that finished 7th place this year at the Syndicate Waterskis 2019 Collegiate Nationals. You can find her as a passionate volunteer all over this sport; driving in a tournament or practice, in a judge’s tower or even as a scorer. She has been a chief official countless times at the Southern & Atlantic Coastal Region (SAC) tournaments as well as working Syndicate Waterskis 2019 Collegiate Nationals and the 2019 NCWSA All-Stars this past year as a volunteer scorer. She has lead not only her team, but the SAC Region and helped drive the direction of the NCWSA.

2019 NCWSA Leader of the Year: Ashley Stevens — Matt Hartel and Ashley Stevens at the Syndicate Waterskis 2019 Collegiate Nationals

As President of the Clemson Watersports Club & Team she is the leader of the team, but for her to be able to effectively lead she had to surround herself with strong group of fellow teammates on the board. Without their support and trust Ashley would not have been able to accomplish all that she has this year. Clemson’s Club Sports went through a lot of changes and Ashley lead the Clemson Watersports Club & Team of 100+ members through this change that has allowed them to become their own independent entity. This took a lot of work and some of it entailed defining all the officers & committees jobs, establishing new governance documents and processes for the team to operate under. She also created an Alumni platform that would allow the team the ability to offer scholarships in the future.

Ashley’s passion for skiing is contagiously evident through her leadership with the Clemson Waterski Team. As president this past year, she strategically used her term to set the team up for long-term success. Ashley was always organizing ways to encourage her teammates to get out on the water, attend tournaments, and develop a passion for the sport similar to hers. She is never afraid to lend a helpful coaching tip or uplifting word of praise!!
Kate Sullivan (Clemson Ski Team Member)

Her experience as a 3-event Regular Judge, Driver, & Senior Scorer as well as an accomplished Tournament Director made her an excellent choice for the SAC Region Tournament Coordinator position. She worked with the host teams to ensure that their upcoming tournaments were being executed to the SAC Tournament Standards as well as helping guide them through the process or with any questions that would arise. Under her leadership she wanted to bring back the SAC Alumni Regional Tournament and created a new effort to make this a regularly occurring event. With the goal that it would help keep the alumni active in the skiing community and that they would continue to support their teams and the region. She was the tournament director and put on a great event that brought skiers together from all over the east coast.

At the National level Ashley serves as the Co-Chair of the Athlete Advisory Committee. Her involvement in this committee has brought along a lot of thoughtful conversation on how the NCWSA could continue to update and change itself while maintaining its long tradition of fun and strong competition. As an accomplished 3 Event skier and official her approach is to always keep the skiers’ best interests at the forefront of the conversation while keeping an open mind to view all sides of the topic or issue.

Ashley is stepping down as the President at Clemson to allow for new leadership to enter into the roll. We will see Ashley continue to be a leader within the NCWSA, in her home states of Florida and South Carolina, through the Southern Region and the whole country.