University of Chicago women鈥檚 basketball player Klaire Steffens makes an impact with the Women鈥檚 Athletic Association
CHICAGO (BVM) — Rising senior athlete Klaire Steffens has been elected and named president of the University of Chicago鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Athletic Association (WAA). While participating in the WAA, Steffens is also a key aspect of the women鈥檚 basketball team.聽
Steffens’ involvement with the WAA has been very prevalent and present. While being a general member her first year, the past two years Steffens has been on the executive board as a co-planner for the Special Olympics’ practices and basketball camps.聽
鈥淲e鈥檒l have local Special Olympic teams come to our facilities and practice with us,鈥� Steffens said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l play flag football, basketball and soccer. It’s super fun, everyone loves it, always making everyone’s day.鈥�
The Women鈥檚 Athletic Association is accompanied by every female athlete at the University of Chicago. There are bi-weekly general meetings mostly explaining the different types of events that the organization coordinates. For example, there are a lot of events throughout the school year such as the Special Olympics, inclusive practices, networking nights with alumni, study breaks and wellness workshops.聽
鈥淢y first year, playing basketball, our practices conflicted with the time of the meetings, so I couldn鈥檛 go to as many meetings as I had hoped,鈥� Steffens explained. 鈥淥ne of my teammates who was two years older than me was involved with the WAA and the Special Olympics practices. While being a part of Best Buddies in my high school experience, there was a little hole in my heart when I didn鈥檛 have that interaction anymore. When I started going to the inclusive practices, it filled that hole for me.鈥澛�
While lifting her extra-curricular activities, her basketball career has gone through the roof. Steffens played four years of varsity basketball at Adlai E. Stevenson High School, averaging 14.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game during her senior year. She was a three-time all-conference and all-area player, an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) All-State special mention, Chicago Tribune LakeShore Athlete of the Year, two-time team captain, and 2017 three-point regional champ and state qualifier.聽
Throughout her freshman year at the University of Chicago, Steffens played in all 26 games with three starts. She averaged 5.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game, tallying a double-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks versus Heidelberg. Steffens collected 11 rebounds and nine points at Elmhurst and scored a season-high 12 points at Lake Forest.聽
During her sophomore year, Steffens, started all 27 games, averaging 8.7 points, 1.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game on the season. She scored a career-high 22 points with eight rebounds versus Illinois Wesleyan and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds to go with 12 points against Brandeis. Steffens posted six games with at least 10 rebounds and totaled 10 points and 14 rebounds at Case Western Reserve.聽
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, her junior year season was canceled. But, the global pandemic did not stop the Maroons from practicing and gearing up for the upcoming season.聽
鈥淲hen we first started practicing we had a phase-in process and after winter break we had another phase-in process which was practicing in smaller groups while slowly increasing the number of people you could come in contact with,鈥� Steffens stated. 鈥淲e played a lot of 3-on-3. It was challenging but it was also good in a way because since we got a new coach, we were getting to know her style of play and she was getting to know our style of play and strengths and weaknesses. I think it was pretty helpful. Especially going down to the fundamentals, all of us would be practicing ball handling. Usually, it’s just the point guards who practice ball handling, but our entire team would be practicing ball handling, doing whatever we really could during the restrictions.鈥�
On top of that, there were many restrictions that the team and Steffens had to follow.聽
鈥淲e were all getting tested once a week,鈥� Steffens mentioned. 鈥淚t was also difficult because the UChicago Health Pact says you can鈥檛 be in a group larger than 10 in any off-campus situation. So, I think basketball was a way for everyone to kind of have that social interaction that everyone was missing.鈥�
Still acknowledging the global pandemic, Steffens involvement with the WAA only grew stronger.聽
鈥淭hroughout Covid, we became Unified Champion partners with a school that has a transition program,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚 ended up organizing weekly virtual practices with them which were not the same as the in-person interaction, but it was still super special to have that virtually. We got creative since it was hard to practice a sport virtually. We did some small workouts, Zumba to musical and Disney songs, and fundraised a little bit too.鈥�
Although the practices and organization of events were virtual, Steffens wanted to be involved even more between the different sections of Special Olympics, Graduate-WAA alumni networking events, student-athlete workshops and WAA week.聽
As incoming president, Steffens has big plans for this upcoming year.聽
鈥淲e’re starting 鈥榃AA Buddies鈥� which is where an upperclassman gets paired with an underclassman that is in the same sport to welcome them to campus, get to know them better, and build that community,鈥� Steffens explained. 鈥淚 am going to be coordinating with each of those groups, partly planning but mainly making sure these events run smoothly. I am kind of the go-to person if anyone needs anything.鈥�
On and off the court, Steffens is always eager to continue the success throughout the Women鈥檚 Athletic Association.聽
鈥淲e had our first meeting the other day,鈥� Steffens stated. 鈥淪ince this year is about returning to normal and putting on a lot of the events that we didn’t get to put on last year, we are trying to get ourselves on our feet first. But I鈥檓 so excited for any new initiatives that people bring.鈥�
As the women鈥檚 basketball season starts in October, Steffens continues to bring that excitement to the court.聽
鈥淚t was a little frustrating seeing other teams play around us, but I think that there was a lot of value that we got in,鈥� Steffens acknowledged. 鈥淚 think we got better and closer at the end of the day. I think we became stronger as a team while facing a lot of adversity as a team this year. But I鈥檓 very excited to see what we can do next year.鈥澛�
For the upcoming season, Steffens is looking forward to having an incredible senior year. She is very excited about getting back to being able to travel with her team and spending time with them while securing a strong bond.
