The University of Wisconsin–Madison chapter of the Association for Women in Sports Media received the National Student Chapter of the Year award for 2025-26. This recognition highlights the chapter’s efforts to expand professional development opportunities and strengthen the community for Women interested in sports media.
Chapter President Lindsay Browne and Vice President Lucy Schrieber both joined as freshmen and are now seniors. After receiving the award, Schrieber spoke about why it matters that the club is women-focused, especially in a male-dominated industry. “So seeing that we got recognized for what we are doing made me realize we are making a stronger impact than I thought.”
During the 2025-26 academic year, the chapter expanded its activities beyond guest speakers by adding hands-on workshops and more opportunities for members to connect.
The workshops gave members an overview of different parts of the sports media industry, including social media, marketing, broadcasting and public relations. Schrieber and Browne wanted students to gain practical skills and learn about the career options in the industry.
“I think providing those opportunities for people to be able to like to talk more and engage with each other is definitely positive,” Browne said.
The chapter also focused on creating more opportunities for members to interact with one another.
“The workshops helped people get closer and kept them wanting to come back, versus in years prior if people didn’t talk as much or if the speaker or workshop wasn’t something they were interested in they would not come,” Schrieber said.
In addition to introducing hands-on workshops, the chapter broadened its guest speaker programming to expose members to more career paths in the sports industry.
“We do a lot of sports journalists and photographers, but we are also just trying to expand it to any woman working in sports based on what people are interested in,” Browne said.
Wanting to expand their programming while ensuring their members are getting opportunities they will benefit from, AWSM gathered feedback from members about the topics and career paths they wanted to learn more about. This helped the chapter bring in speakers from across the industry.
“We sent out Google forms to gauge people’s interests and what they wanted to hear from speakers, and I know it definitely helped me narrow down what I wanted to do in sports – especially coming from someone who is not a journalism major,” Schrieber said.
Going back to the workshops, they also helped members with little or no sports experience discover opportunities on campus. By creating graphics and creating marketing campaigns, members developed skills and gained work examples to use when seeking internship opportunities.
” A lot of our members don’t necessarily come in with sports experience, and so they’re looking to navigate what kind of opportunities are available on campus,” Browne said. “Having those workshops is helpful, just to give them something like, ‘I’ve been able to practice making this graphic.”
The new programming in the chapter helped boost member engagement, especially among younger students. Schrieber said that freshmen and sophomores became more collaborative and were more interested in returning for workshops and speaker events. Browne said that members shared feedback about what they wanted from the organization, which helped the chapter adjust its programming to better fit their interests.
Schrieber and Browne remembered one moment from the chapter’s first meeting that year, when members had a chance to meet each other before the usual speaker and workshop sessions started.
“People were actually talking and engaging with each other, I think that stood out to me because in my previous years we didn’t engage that much,” Schrieber said.
A speaker that stood out to both was ESPN senior writer Heather Dinich – a complicated process that proved to be worth it.
“We were able to get someone important in the industry and we thought it would be a helpful learning experience for our members,” Browne said.
Because the chapter grew this year, the national recognition felt especially meaningful. Both said the award reflected the community they had built and the opportunities members found through AWSM.
“I think seeing the growth of our club in terms of membership and how engaged people are really solidified that we are making a difference,” Browne said. “I’m glad we are able to create a community that people want to be a part of.”
In August, Schrieber and Browe attended the association for Women in Sports Media Conference in Los Angeles to accept their award.
Through this experience, they saw how connected the national organization is and learned what other student chapters do for their members. It gave them a better sense of the bigger picture and the wider AWSM community.
Browne and Schrieber want to keep growing the chapter, help members stay involved and connect students with sports media opportunities. For them, the award shows what the chapter has achieved this year and highlights the community they want to keep building.
“I am really excited about providing opportunities for members, whether that be with the Wisconsin Athletics or other sport organizations and being able to use those connections to get other members foot in the door,” Scrieber said.