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(GISD | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) A total of 11 athletes were chosen to be members of the 2025 Leadership Council with names including Jordan Alexander, Landon Bass, Walker Bennett, Thomason Burkett, Cooper Corley, Isaiah Flores, Jace Gill, Tyson Louder, Tripp Mahaney, McCrae Reese and Brennan Strawbridge.
Despite Graham hitting the end of its academic year and seeing its senior body move on to the next steps in their lives, the school must still look towards the future of its athletic programs.
That’s exactly what Graham High School is doing with the nomination of athletes for their 2025 summer leadership board for football.
The Graham Athletics Facebook page released a statement announcing the members of the board Tuesday, May 20.
“The 2025 Leadership Council is set going into the summer,” the post stated. “They will be working on improving their leadership skills so they can do a great job leading this next school year.”
The post also went on to say that athletes from their fellow teams selected the nominees for this board and a wide variety of candidates were selected as a result.
A total of 11 athletes were chosen to be members of the leadership board with names including Jordan Alexander, Landon Bass, Walker Bennett, Thomason Burkett, Cooper Corley, Isaiah Flores, Jace Gill, Tyson Louder, Tripp Mahaney, McCrae Reese and Brennan Strawbridge.
Head football coach and school athletic director Clay McChristain said that some members were returning from last year's inaugural council while others are new additions.
“Returning to the council are Tripp Mahaney, Landon Bass, Isaiah Flores, Thomason Burkett and Cooper Corley,” McChristian said. “Each bringing valuable experience and continuity to the group.”
Each of these athletes competes in football, but they also compete in other sports at Graham High School like basketball, baseball, track and field, soccer and powerlifting.
These athlete leaders have also been nominated from various levels of experience at the high school.
Most of those at the top of the board are seniors led by Alexander, Bass, Flores, Gill and Mahaney.
There are four juniors on the leadership board which are Burkett, Corley, Louder and Reese.
Finally there are two sophomores joining as board members including Bennett and Strawbridge.
McChristian said that in order for these young men to enhance their skills as leaders, each of them will be meeting weekly over the summer to partake in leadership training sessions primarily.
“These sessions will focus on self-evaluation, communication strategies, team building, problem-solving and fostering trust and respect,” McChristian said. “Each activity is designed to reinforce our program's core values: trust, commitment, work ethic, toughness, pride and selflessness.”
These athletes have already found themselves recognized with prestigious acknowledgements for their efforts at Graham ISD so far.
Many of them are all district players, area qualifiers, regional qualifiers and recognized as team voted awards winners as well.
As Graham marches into their 2025-26 athletic and academic year, they will look to these young men to carry the torch for the next generation of students.
