« Softball 2020

Amber Swinarski

School
Columbia University
Position
Outfielder
Major
Sustainable Development

Classroom

Swinarski carries a 3.95 GPA as a sustainable development major with a concentration in business management at Columbia University’s Columbia College. She has made the Dean’s List every semester (Fall 2016 - Fall 2019) and is a three-time NFCA Scholar-Athlete interested in sports business. She has interned for the NFL doing media strategy and business development and has also interned for the NYC Department of Health. Upon graduating this May, Swinarski has already accepted a job offer doing management consulting. She is currently applying for deferred enrollment MBA programs.

Character

Swinarski has been a part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee all four years at Columbia and has been a member of the executive board for the past three years. She was the Social Media Chair as a sophomore and the Community Service Chair as a junior. This year, Swinarski is the President. Her main duties include meeting with administration on a regular basis to plan meetings, special events, and to communicate the suggestions and concerns of 80 members. Swinarski also attends the Ivy League SAAC Conference to discuss legislation and share ideas.

Additionally, Swinarski is a Dean’s Discipline Student Navigator. For the last two years, she has volunteered in the office of Student Conduct and Community Affairs as a peer advisor for students going through the disciplinary process. She helps students understand the process and acts as a non-administrative source of support.

Swinarski is also a New Student Orientation Program (NSOP) Orientation Leader. She spent two years serving in this role under NSOP, which consists of helping new students and families with their transition to Columbia during move-in and their first week. She then takes on a mentor role for assigned students once NSOP ends for the rest of the school year.

Lastly, Swinarski is a member of Female Athletes Stand Together (FAST), a club and non-profit organization on campus. It has also spread to other schools including UCLA. The purpose of the club is to support, unite, and empower female athletes

Community

Swinarski has helped organize several service events throughout her four years as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, especially this past year as the President. Each semester, she has helped put together dodgeball tournaments to raise money for our cause of choice. In previous years, the causes she has helped donate to include local food banks and One Love Foundation, an organization that works to prevent relationship violence.

Other community projects Swinarski is a part are Food Drives and RallyCap Sports. She organizes a food drive each year and tries to engage all of athletics to donate to local food banks and soup kitchens around Thanksgiving. RallyCap Sports is still a work in progress but she is in the process of bringing the organization (which brings sports programs to kids with disabilities) to Columbia. Her goal is to do a series of clinics for local kids and families who are interested.

One of the most important things Swinarski does is facilitating community service activities for others. In coordination with SAAC, she helps to connect local organizations with teams and student-athletes that want to help. She does a lot of the behind-the-scenes coordinating to make this happen.

Swinarski has also played a major role in with the softball team and TEAM Impact. Columbia drafted Kayla Collins back in November of 2017. Collins suffers from sickle cell anemia and Swinarski has been the main point of contact between the team and Kayla’s family.

Competition

On the field, Swinarski has been a three-year starter in the outfield for the Columbia softball team. She has played in 105 career games and made 98 starts heading into her senior year. As a freshman, she led the team with 30 runs scored, which ranked fifth in the Ivy League. Swinarski’s 30 runs from 2017 are also a top-10 mark in Columbia softball history. Entering her senior year, she has scored 65 career runs and has a chance to enter Columbia’s career top-10.

In Swinarski’s time at Columbia, the Lions have become one of the top programs in the Ivy League. In 2019, they went 24-21, 15-6 in the Ivy League, winning the most games during a season in program history. They qualified for their first Ivy League Playoff Series in program history, as well. Swinarski and the Lions enter the 2020 season as the preseason favorite to win the league, as voted on by the league media.