PLYMOUTH — After surviving a very competitive selection process current Plymouth sophomore Ellie Jones will be one of only nine juniors in the state of Indiana that will serve on the IHSAA’s Student Advisory Committee starting in 202.
“I knew CeCe Robinson had been on the committee and I have a friend from LaVille (Leyton Czarnecki) on it,” said Ellie. “He told me how much he enjoyed it, CeCe really enjoyed it so I decided to try it.”
The process is not an easy one and Jones was not the only candidate considered by Plymouth High School.
“You have to be nominated by an Athletic Director or a Principal,” she said. “They had more than one person in mind for the position so we had to write an essay to be nominated and there was a board at Plymouth that chose which student would be nominated.
“They chose me and I was nominated by (Plymouth A.D.) Mr. (Michael) Delp and after you are nominated you have to fill out a form to be considered by the state,” said Ellie. “Then the IHSAA picks 20 people from those that fill out the form and you get an interview.”
Jones was in Indianapolis over the past weekend for that interview and the rest, as they say, is history.
The final interview was intimidating but went well.
“I was pretty nervous but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” said Jones.
Ellie is the daughter of Derek and Lisa Jones. She will be a varsity letter winner in three sports as a sophomore (volleyball, basketball, and tennis) and has a GPA greater than 4.0 which ranks her in the top two percent of her class.
Jones’ service on the Advisory Committee will start next school year. It adds to her already busy schedule as a three-sport athlete and service in school clubs like Key Club, Art Club, Student Council, and Student government, to name a few.
Her responsibilities on the Advisory Committee will include leadership opportunities and service helping the IHSAA in hosting state championship events during the year.
“We have to go to four meetings a year in Indy,” said Ellie. “We have to go to the state finals and help with those for each of the different sports. We are part of different leadership conferences.”
“It seemed like a really fun way to meet new people and get a chance to connect with new people and get to connect with people all over the state,” she said.
Jones clearly won’t slack on schoolwork either as she looks toward what she has in sight as a future career.
“I know I want to do something in sports medicine,” she said. “A physician, helping people diagnose injuries and treat them. It would be awesome to be able to work for a professional team someday.”
Of the three sports, Ellie says her favorite is volleyball.
“I like the competition of it and being able to make great plays by yourself,” she said. “Sports is very important in my life. It’s taught me a lot of leadership skills but more than that, being able to hang out with friends from different teams and we all depend on each other and help each other out, that’s really cool.”
Ellie joins four former PHS student-athletes — Cece Robinson, Ellen Smith, Haley Harrell, and Megan Barron — who have all previously served on IHSAA Board while attending Plymouth High School.
