Source: Coronado Unified School District
Coronado High School rising junior Graham Bower has been chosen by the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) to be a member of the San Diego Section Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
“I’m really excited to be part of this new committee and looking forward to it. I think it’s a great opportunity to get more leadership experience, get to know more people, and possibly, hopefully, make some sort of change,” said Bower. “I don’t know exactly what we will be doing but I know there will be projects and volunteer opportunities at events throughout the year.”
According to the Islander Sports Foundation, Bower is “one of sixteen students (two from each conference) to represent the athlete’s voice on the first-ever CIFSD SAAC. Members were chosen based on their sports participation, extracurricular activities, and leadership skills. Student leaders (on the committee) will discuss topics that are relevant to high school student-athletes, review current issues or proposals in the State of California or San Diego Section, while maintaining a focus on improving the athletic experience for all stakeholders.”
As a member of the SAAC, Bower is looking forward to representing not only CHS but all athletes (approximately 75,000) in the section. “The committee will meet about four times during the school year. Our first meeting is August 27 and I’m very excited to go and learn more,” he shared.
For now he is planning on spending time this summer with his Islander teammates preparing for football season. “I am one of the captains on the team next year and will most likely be playing quarterback. I was a slot receiver last year but our QB transferred and so I will be switching positions,” he said.
Bower is looking forward to another season with Islander Football Coach Kurt Hines.
“He is an amazing coach and I love how he leads our team,” he said. Hines was equally
complimentary of his player, “He is an amazing young man!” he emphasized.
As a military dependent (his father is in the US Navy) Bowers lived in many places and
played many different sports, including wrestling, basketball, rugby, lacrosse, and
soccer. For now he is only playing football but isn’t ruling out a lacrosse comeback.
“We have moved a lot. Florida, Rhode Island, Virginia, all multiple times, and then Italy.
We moved to Coronado from Naples, Italy in the summer of 2020 so I feel like this will
be my first ‘real’ summer here in Coronado and I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
He also shared that his mom was a lacrosse player in high school and college and she
was the one who first heard of the opportunity to apply for the CIF-SD SAAC. “I learned
about it from my mom, who found out about it from her Athletic Director. My mom is the
head coach for the girls lacrosse team at Hoover High School.”
When not on the field himself Bower does videography and photography for other
sports. He began last year making edits for soccer and continued with rugby, lacrosse,
and the powderpuff football edit for the end of the year.
The California Interscholastic Federation is the governing body for high school sports in
California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. CIF strives to
strengthen the integrity of students and adults across the state by promoting the
concepts of sportsmanship, honesty and quality academics. These priorities advance the
highest principles of character – trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring
and good citizenship.
Source: Coronado Unified School District
