PORTALES, N.M. – Sia Poyer is Eastern New Mexico Athletics' new associate athletic director for leadership development and outreach.
 
"Super excited about it," said Poyer when asked about beginning the Greyhound Athletics Presidential Leadership Academy. "We are fortunate as a department to have this opportunity thanks to the Steve Loy Family Foundation."
 
Poyer just completed his 19th season as head coach for ENMU volleyball. He helped the program win 115 games in his time leading the team.
 
His new role with Greyhound Athletics will help the department begin the Greyhound Athletics Presidential Leadership Academy (GAPLA), which is fully funded as part of Steve and Linda Loy's generous $2.5 million gift to Eastern New Mexico University.
 
"It was easy to appoint Sia to lead the President's Leadership Academy. His passion for helping our student-athletes and his tenure at ENMU was a perfect match to kickoff this program for our University," said Steve Loy on Poyer's new role with the Greyhound Athletics Presidential Leadership Academy. "The mission will be simple - reward the student-athletes who choose to excel, provide them tools to succeed in life, and encourage others to see the many benefits we can provide to our students like potential networks for jobs and the impact communities all over our nation experience from the leadership of our graduates and Greyhound alumni.  Winning takes on a viral vertical result when our student-athletes excel."
 
GAPLA will be a yearlong session-based group for student-athletes to grow in their knowledge of leadership and how they can bring those lessons to their team. The sessions will be run every 3-4 weeks and focused on lessons taken from the Janssen Sports Leadership Center. The group behind these efforts have worked with some of the nation's best colleges and universities to coordinate top-notch leadership academies for the last 20+ years. Some colleges they work with include Michigan, Arkansas, Illinois, and Notre Dame.
 
"(GAPLA) will provide student athletes with the training and education to translate leadership traits they may exhibit on the court or field into marketable job skills that will serve them for a lifetime," said ENMU chancellor Dr. James Johnston. "Sia is the right person to begin this academy, and I look forward to seeing the great things he will do with this opportunity."
 
Poyer will initiate the program's curricula and structure. He will coordinate with department coaches and student-athletes to support GAPLA by forming the group and scheduling each session.
 
"Steve and Linda Loy's generosity and the vision of President Johnston to have a structured program to enhance the leadership abilities of our student-athletes is what makes this program possible," said director of athletics Kevin Fite. "I am excited to have Sia lead the efforts and provide even greater resources to our student-athletes so they will become leaders in their lives after athletics. The plus side for our sports programs is that our teams will benefit from this academy's efforts and leadership development. I fully expect to see increased performance in the field of competition and in the classroom because of this program. Sia Poyer's background as a coach will prove valuable in this new position by working with our current student-athletes and encouraging former student-athletes to become more involved in helping develop our current leaders in our athletics department."
 
ENMU Athletics will begin the sessions for GAPLA in February 2025 with student-athletes from each Greyhound sport program. Each session will cover a different leadership lesson and will engage the student-athlete participants to bring the lessons taught back to their teams. The inaugural class of the Greyhound Athletics Presidential Leadership Academy will consist of approximately 35 student-athletes.