BGSU representative Stephanie Paris to speak on panel at women’s Final Four

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — The NCAA women’s basketball Final Four is on Friday and a representative from BGSU will be making the trip to Tampa Bay.

Stephanie Paris is a former collegiate athlete, coach and current vice president at State Bank. She was selected to speak on a panel hosted by the National Association for Collegiate Directors of Athletics and Teamworks.

“It’s kind of the ambition around it,” Paris said. “These two groups got together and said ‘let’s put some dynamic women there on the stage and let’s have a conversation around college athletics and the professional world.'”

The panel is a part of the “Netting Transformation: Women Advancing Change in Athletics” event, the first of its kind at one of college sports’ biggest stages for women.

Paris and other senior-level administrators will be talking about transitioning roles as she has done from athletics to finance, and how leadership skills and other characteristics from one can roll over to help succeed in the other.

“I think it’s really more about sharing experiences and knowledge,” Paris said. “And if there are student athletes who can really hone in on those skills of great communication, great engagement, creating these relationships through a lifetime, you don’t really know where someone can help you later in life and those are skills we want to showcase.

It’s going to be a great event and I’m lucky to be a part of it.”

Since moving to Bowling Green with her husband, BGSU athletic director Derek van der Merwe, Paris has created many opportunities to uplift women a part of the Falcon nation, such as the Bowling Green Women’s clinic.

Her most recent endeavor involves selling hats with BGSU’s slogan “Roll Along,” in which the proceeds go to women’s athletic programs that may not have large operating budgets.

“I played softball and it’s a lower-tier sport. We’re always fundraising, we’re always asking for help to supplement what you have and I just thought this would be a great way to help these sports,” Paris said.

There is a new product launch about every five weeks, in which a new women’s program will be selected to receive proceeds from that sale. The first was softball on Feb. 27 and is still going on. The next program will be announced in the coming weeks.

“I’m really hoping this one with softball is really impactful and they can use it for something special, like a trip they want to go on to play in a tournament,” she said. “There are a million hat companies out there. I’m not trying to be that, I’m just trying to support these female sports.”

Paris plans to continue that support during her time on the panel, not only to help inspire others, but also to learn from those around her to continue bettering the Bowling Green community.

“My role still and now is about supporting the student athletes,” Paris said. “Going to this event, if I can take something with me from there and bring back to Derek, our leadership team, our coaches, parents, anything that we’re involved in with my role at State Bank, I would love to. That’s really the goal.”