Southeast Alamance senior learns leadership, networking through athletics

Brooke Hardister spent two years on the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council, a 26-member group built to represent each region of the state and more than 200,000 athletic participants. For Alamance County, her place on that council meant Southeast Alamance had a voice in statewide conversations about the student-athlete experience, where leadership, sportsmanship and the realities of school sports are all part of the discussion.

Hardister just finished her senior year at Southeast Alamance after a high school career that stretched across three sports. She most recently played first base for the Stallions’ softball team, which finished as the Class 5-A East Region runner-up. She also helped launch Southeast’s first volleyball and swimming teams after enrolling there from Eastern Alamance when Southeast opened in 2023. Her path from a new school in southern Alamance County to a statewide advisory role showed how quickly student leaders can become part of the structure that shapes athletics beyond one campus.

Her route to the NCHSAA council began after a leadership conference at North Carolina State University and encouragement from Southeast athletics director B.J. Condron. Once on the council, Hardister took part in leadership events that stretched well beyond Alamance County. She attended the National Student Leadership Summit in Indianapolis, where the NCHSAA said seven SAAC members joined 245 student-athletes from 32 states in July 2024, and she also attended a leadership summit in Greensboro. Those gatherings gave students from across the country a chance to compare leadership styles and talk about issues that affect high school sports, including officiating.

Hardister also helped at state championship events, including football finals at Kenan Stadium and basketball championships at Joel Coliseum. The work matched the NCHSAA’s stated purpose for the council, which is to serve as the voice for student-athletes and discuss topics relevant to their experience while developing ways to maintain a positive athletic environment. NCHSAA materials say members are expected to exemplify leadership and sportsmanship, and they may present at regional meetings, receive leadership training, volunteer at championships and help plan community service projects.

Hardister plans to attend the University of South Carolina and major in political science and broadcast journalism, with the goal of becoming a news anchor. Her story fits Southeast’s early years as a new Alamance County high school, which opened for the 2023-24 school year with an estimated 800 students and sports programs still taking shape, including on-campus practice plans for football and boys’ soccer.