Grand Canyon University Athletics
Alderson rows ahead for student-athletes
2/8/2022 9:00:00 AM | General, S-A Development, Paul Coro
Chance to be student-athlete created lane to become GCU assistant AD
When Nicole Alderson grew up playing every sport she could in a Canadian town with more ice rinks (one) than traffic lights (none), she saw a Nike campaign for "If you let me play" on television and on a friend's bedroom poster.
With a series of young female athletes' faces and the theme of "If you let me play," the message offered inspiring conclusions of "I will like myself more" and "I will have more self-confidence" and continued with physical, mental and emotional health benefits of girls playing sports.
Alderson became a testament to it, vaulting a passion for sports into a college sports scholarship and a career that pivoted into providing inspiration and direction for the Grand Canyon student-athletes who she serves as GCU's Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development.
"I'm extremely appreciative for sport and the opportunities that it provided for me," Alderson said. "I don't know if I would be who I am today without my association with sport."
Alderson, who joined GCU in July, runs a department known for guiding student-athletes through their education, but it offers far more in personal, career and leadership development.
When Alderson interviewed with GCU, she relished that the athletic department was led by a woman, Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs, and noticed an itinerary dotted with some of the University's seven female vice presidents. Her department operates with mostly women, too.
"Nicole is so invested in the personal and professional growth of our student-athletes," Boggs said. "She has an innate ability to connect with them. She really cares and listens, and she works tirelessly to ensure her department is providing the best possible support. She is a rising star in our industry and I am thankful to have her on our team and serving as a role model for our women student-athletes."
Just as Alderson serves as an example, much like the one she was given in a town that holds fewer than 3,000 people and lies west of Lake Ontario and southwest of Toronto.
"When you can walk, you can skate," Alderson said of growing up in a Canadian sports family.
The Carlisle Community Centre housed an ice rink, but Alderson's and her cousins' grandparents provided another by flooding the front yard in freezing temperatures.
But it was not hockey, her childhood passion, that sent Alderson to the world of NCAA athletics as a student-athlete, graduate assistant and rising administrator.
Alderson played everything she could growing up to emulate her big brother, Chad. She started with figure skating and hockey before taking on softball, basketball, volleyball, water polo, track and field, cross country and soccer. She captained Waterdown High School soccer and hockey and even played volleyball and hockey simultaneously.
In a rare moment between seasons as a senior, her female high school homeroom teacher who had rowed collegiately suggested that Alderson try the sport. With a 5-foot-10 frame, her strength, athleticism and competitiveness were ideal fits to handle an oar.
"The encouragement of my teacher makes a huge difference," Alderson said. "You have to have role models. They're the ones who pave the way and allow me to feel, 'If you could do it, I could do it' and support me along the way."
Her parents, Murray and Maria, told her that she was too busy to take on another sport with schoolwork, her traveling hockey club, other teams and a job at the ice rink. But while they were on vacation, Alderson aquired her driver's license and headed to the local rowing club.
"Because I was always gone by 5 a.m., they just assumed I was playing hockey," Alderson said.
She had found her lane in sports. By the winter, she recorded a strong enough time on a rowing machine to draw the interest of a Louisville assistant coach who was from the Carlisle area and asked for a home recruiting visit during the holidays.
"I told my parents that a coach is coming is coming to talk about rowing at the University of Louisville and they were like, 'No, that's not true; nobody knows you row,' " Alderson said.
Alderson visited Louisville in February of her senior year. The rare scenario of getting her only Division I offer three months before graduation resonates more now that she has worked in Division I athletics for 14 years.
It was a life-changing opportunity through sports. With a rowing career at Louisville from 2003 to 2007, she drew insight and motivation from the women around her as teammates and coaches. That crew never stopped being her support system in life.
"My team was so impactful with their commitment to everything they did," Alderson said. "They're like my family. Coming from another country, you couldn't ask for a better group of women to inspire to be better. Nobody was complacent. Everyone lifted each other up."
Alderson went to college with intentions of becoming a physical therapist. But along the way to a health and human performance degree, other ideas and strengths were forming.
"Where did you get your confidence from?" her mother recently asked her formerly shy daughter.
It came from being a college athlete who developed a willingness to delve into new areas. She felt comfortable to grow and a new career path was formed when she interned in the Louisville academic center.
"Why not you?" Alderson was told about job opportunities. "If not you, it's going to be someone else."
So she applied and earned a graduate assistant position at Louisville, where she later became an academic counselor and earned a master's degree in sport administration. After four years as a counselor, she was promoted to assistant director of academic services. That led to an opportunity at Florida Atlantic, where she worked six years with the last four as assistant athletic director for student-athlete development before joining GCU.
Â
Boggs' leadership of GCU Athletics with Alderson's charge of the student-athlete development area offer a rare administrative combination at the helm of a Division I program. That position to mentor is not lost on Alderson as a former student-athlete.
Â
She remembers how impactful the infrastructure can be "if you let me play."
Â
"It's important to be very present with them and get to know them," Alderson said. "I want to help them see that next step. What is it they want to do and help them get to that next level? I had so many people extend their hand to me.
Â
"We want to let them know that they're not alone. It's not easy always, but you have a whole support system of people who will be here for you, not just in these four years, but beyond."
Â
With a series of young female athletes' faces and the theme of "If you let me play," the message offered inspiring conclusions of "I will like myself more" and "I will have more self-confidence" and continued with physical, mental and emotional health benefits of girls playing sports.
Alderson became a testament to it, vaulting a passion for sports into a college sports scholarship and a career that pivoted into providing inspiration and direction for the Grand Canyon student-athletes who she serves as GCU's Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development.
"I'm extremely appreciative for sport and the opportunities that it provided for me," Alderson said. "I don't know if I would be who I am today without my association with sport."Alderson, who joined GCU in July, runs a department known for guiding student-athletes through their education, but it offers far more in personal, career and leadership development.
When Alderson interviewed with GCU, she relished that the athletic department was led by a woman, Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs, and noticed an itinerary dotted with some of the University's seven female vice presidents. Her department operates with mostly women, too.
"Nicole is so invested in the personal and professional growth of our student-athletes," Boggs said. "She has an innate ability to connect with them. She really cares and listens, and she works tirelessly to ensure her department is providing the best possible support. She is a rising star in our industry and I am thankful to have her on our team and serving as a role model for our women student-athletes."
Just as Alderson serves as an example, much like the one she was given in a town that holds fewer than 3,000 people and lies west of Lake Ontario and southwest of Toronto.
"When you can walk, you can skate," Alderson said of growing up in a Canadian sports family.
The Carlisle Community Centre housed an ice rink, but Alderson's and her cousins' grandparents provided another by flooding the front yard in freezing temperatures.
But it was not hockey, her childhood passion, that sent Alderson to the world of NCAA athletics as a student-athlete, graduate assistant and rising administrator.
Alderson played everything she could growing up to emulate her big brother, Chad. She started with figure skating and hockey before taking on softball, basketball, volleyball, water polo, track and field, cross country and soccer. She captained Waterdown High School soccer and hockey and even played volleyball and hockey simultaneously.
In a rare moment between seasons as a senior, her female high school homeroom teacher who had rowed collegiately suggested that Alderson try the sport. With a 5-foot-10 frame, her strength, athleticism and competitiveness were ideal fits to handle an oar.
"The encouragement of my teacher makes a huge difference," Alderson said. "You have to have role models. They're the ones who pave the way and allow me to feel, 'If you could do it, I could do it' and support me along the way."
Her parents, Murray and Maria, told her that she was too busy to take on another sport with schoolwork, her traveling hockey club, other teams and a job at the ice rink. But while they were on vacation, Alderson aquired her driver's license and headed to the local rowing club.
"Because I was always gone by 5 a.m., they just assumed I was playing hockey," Alderson said.
She had found her lane in sports. By the winter, she recorded a strong enough time on a rowing machine to draw the interest of a Louisville assistant coach who was from the Carlisle area and asked for a home recruiting visit during the holidays.
"I told my parents that a coach is coming is coming to talk about rowing at the University of Louisville and they were like, 'No, that's not true; nobody knows you row,' " Alderson said.
Alderson visited Louisville in February of her senior year. The rare scenario of getting her only Division I offer three months before graduation resonates more now that she has worked in Division I athletics for 14 years.It was a life-changing opportunity through sports. With a rowing career at Louisville from 2003 to 2007, she drew insight and motivation from the women around her as teammates and coaches. That crew never stopped being her support system in life.
"My team was so impactful with their commitment to everything they did," Alderson said. "They're like my family. Coming from another country, you couldn't ask for a better group of women to inspire to be better. Nobody was complacent. Everyone lifted each other up."
Alderson went to college with intentions of becoming a physical therapist. But along the way to a health and human performance degree, other ideas and strengths were forming.
"Where did you get your confidence from?" her mother recently asked her formerly shy daughter.
It came from being a college athlete who developed a willingness to delve into new areas. She felt comfortable to grow and a new career path was formed when she interned in the Louisville academic center.
"Why not you?" Alderson was told about job opportunities. "If not you, it's going to be someone else."
So she applied and earned a graduate assistant position at Louisville, where she later became an academic counselor and earned a master's degree in sport administration. After four years as a counselor, she was promoted to assistant director of academic services. That led to an opportunity at Florida Atlantic, where she worked six years with the last four as assistant athletic director for student-athlete development before joining GCU.
Â
Boggs' leadership of GCU Athletics with Alderson's charge of the student-athlete development area offer a rare administrative combination at the helm of a Division I program. That position to mentor is not lost on Alderson as a former student-athlete.
Â
She remembers how impactful the infrastructure can be "if you let me play."
Â
"It's important to be very present with them and get to know them," Alderson said. "I want to help them see that next step. What is it they want to do and help them get to that next level? I had so many people extend their hand to me.
Â
"We want to let them know that they're not alone. It's not easy always, but you have a whole support system of people who will be here for you, not just in these four years, but beyond."
Â
Kendra Potts Post Match Press Conference | GCU vs NAU 9.7.25
Monday, September 08
"Your Life Arizona" Featuring Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs
Friday, September 05
Kaleb Smith | Media Availability | 9.3.25
Thursday, September 04
Dusty Stromer | Media Availability | 9.3.25
Thursday, September 04