Lisa Quednow-Bickler doesn’t shy away from her past.

Sunday, August 22, 1999

Lisa Quednow-Bickler doesn’t shy away from her past.

"My mom made it for me," the new women’s athletic director and softball coach at Riverland Community College said holding a quilt made with her former jerseys and warm up suits from her playing days at Austin Community College and Pacelli High School.

Quednow-Bickler, a 1993 graduate of Pacelli and a 1995 graduate of ACC, which was later renamed Riverland, is excited about returning to her roots.

"It feels like a huge accomplishment to be back at where I started," said the 24-year-old Quednow-Bickler, who earned a master’s degree in athletic administration at St. Cloud State University. "Now I can contribute to other female athletes and help give them the same opportunity I had.

"I never thought I would be in this position this early after college. I thought I would have to go through more steps."

Although she has been on the job less than a month, Quednow-Bickler is already facing the challenge of hiring a new women’s basketball and a tennis coach that will are willing to sacrifice working at small four-year school or another junior college that can offer scholarships in favor of working at Riverland and living in Austin long-term.

"The big thing is top get coaches that are local or have a history with community," she said. "Obviously you want the best candidate though."

Quednow-Bickler said the new coach (Or coaches; It is still unknown if there will be two coaches hired or just one that will fill both positions. Quednow-Bickler said it will depend on the applicants background. Some candidates have applied for both position and some have only applied for one.) will be from be from Minnesota and possibly from the Austin area. An announcement on the new coaches is expected early this week.

Among Quednow-Bickler’s top priorities as an athletic director after the coaching search is over, is building local interest in Riverland sports.

"I want to see more local athletes stay in Austin," she said. "It’s important for the community and obviously as an athletic director I want to see our teams continue to go to national tournaments."

Quednow-Bickler, who took over as women’s athletic director and softball coach for Paula Carlsen in early August, said the key to getting more local athletes to play at Riverland is stressing the potential benefits of going to a two-year school first before possibly going to a four-year school.

"There’s not much in the way of glamour here," she said. "We as a college need to stress the how great of an academic institution this is and if an athlete wants to play a the Division I or Division II level, this is a great way to get more playing time while developing their skills.

"Even if they don’t plan on playing sports at a four-year school, this is a good place to keep that competitive spirit."

As for coaching, Quednow-Bickler said her age will give her an edge when she takes the reigns of Carlsen’s softball team that made it to the Region XIII Tournament last year and likely would have gone farther if it hadn’t been decimated by injuries the final weeks of the season.

"I think it gives me an edge because not that long ago I was their situation and they might be more responsive to what I have to say or willing to come to me with a problem. I don’t see it as a conflict but it should make us more cohesive."