This year, Parker athletics welcomes a new face, Luke Drase. A former volleyball coach at Lane Tech High School and Communications Coordinator for the athletic department at Lake Forest College, Drase joined Parker this fall as the new Assistant Athletics Director. Born and raised on the North Side of Chicago, Drase said the chance to work in an athletic department at a school that shares his personal values felt like a unique opportunity.
“Even though I’ve only been here since July, it’s really easy to see the sense of community Parker promotes, not only in athletics but throughout the whole school,” Drase said, “Parker stood out to me because I saw how the school is less about athletics in particular and more about what Parker stands for as an institution.”
In addition to his new role, Drase also manages the Colonel Athletics Instagram account which has become the new main platform for Parker sports highlights and updates. This season, he introduced a new activity called “White Board Wednesday,” where student athletes answer funny questions about their teammates on camera.
“White Board Wednesday is meant to get student athletes more involved and help build the community,” Drase said, “At Lake Forest College, there were similar activities that inspired me to bring this idea to Parker.”
Although activities like White Board Wednesday are designed to be fun and engaging, not everyone is completely on board with the changes to social media. “Some students feel that the new approach where the athletics department runs the accounts has taken away some of the creativity and excitement that used to come when students controlled them,” sophomore Scarlett Mosquera said, “When students ran all of the Parker athletics Instagram accounts for each sport, there was more freedom and excitement, but now it just feels controlled and less fun.”
The Instagram account “fwparkerathletics” has been around since 2020. This year the new “Colonelathletics” page was created. As part of the transition, all of the old posts and highlights were archived, creating a fresh start.
“With the old account, ownership was passed down yearly, but the new Colonel Athletics account was made to create consistency throughout posts and to be managed by the athletics department,” Drase said. “We hope to build off of this account so it will last beyond the current students and continue to highlight athletes for years to come.”
Drase “hopes to focus on celebrating student athletes and their achievements,” which he “believes are a huge part of Parker’s identity.” He also “wants to expand the school’s social media presence and strengthen the connection between athletes and the larger community.”
“We have a simple goal to bring more positive attention to our teams and scholar-athletes. That includes refreshing and unifying all of our team accounts with common names, handles, and logos,” Parker Athletics Director Nick Kocsis said.
As the first two months of the school year come to a close, Drase and the athletics department “remain focused on building school spirit and giving recognition to student athletes for their commitment, talent, and hard work. With new programs like White Board Wednesday and a non-student-led social media presence, the department hopes to improve and make changes, making Parker’s athletics more connected than ever.”
