FAYETTE, Iowa - After 15 years as an athletic trainer, Rachel Caspers will transition into the Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development role at Upper Iowa. She will also serve as the Senior Woman Administrator on the staff, as announced by Vice President of Athletics Rick Hartzell.

"We are extremely excited to have Rachel on board as our new Assistant AD for Student-Athlete Development and Senior Woman Administrator," Hartzell said. "Rachel is a long-term UIU employee who richly deserves this chance to change her career path and to join our athletic administrative team. Rachel will bring a wealth of knowledge in dealing with the day-to-day needs of our athletes. She was a perfect candidate for this role, and we are thrilled to have her get started on her new work in helping our student-athletes grow and excel."

Caspers has been the athletic trainer this past year for the football, volleyball, baseball, women's cross country and women's track & field teams. She will complete her work with baseball and track & field this spring before transitioning to her new position full-time this summer. 

"I have been able to get to know many student-athletes as an athletic trainer," Caspers said. "I'm hoping that will encourage them to reach out for help and get the resources that I will be able to provide on the academic and professional sides during their time at UIU. Keeping the relationships with current students will help them to refer new students in future years to come talk to me, and hopefully, this will help improve their academic experience."

She replaces Emily Jorgensen, who served in the position since July 2021. 

"I'm hoping to keep all the great things going that Emily implemented, like the SAAC Cup and the Student-Athlete Developmental Series," Caspers said. "I'm hoping to give SAAC more responsibilities and leadership opportunities. Many years ago, we were able to have people from our SAAC get involved in our athletic department, the conference office and even at the NCAA level."

Caspers was promoted after seven years as an Assistant Athletic Trainer to Senior Assistant Athletic Trainer at Upper Iowa. She has also been an adjunct instructor in the EXSS department on campus, teaching Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries.

Before Upper Iowa, Caspers was a graduate assistant at Drake University working with the volleyball, track & field and men's tennis teams. She earned her master's degree in public administration with an emphasis in health care administration in 2011. 

She received her bachelor's degree in athletic training from Central College in Pella, Iowa, in 2009. She was also a member of the Dutch track & field team, and also studied abroad in Bangor, Wales. 

Caspers lives in Clermont with her husband, Jon. They have two daughters, Leighton and Jovi. 

I've been around Peacock athletics and UIU for my whole career, and I'm glad to continue to be a part of the Peacock Family," Caspers said.