Lake Superior

Abbie Laajala enters her first year as Lake Superior State's Associate Athletic Director for the 2023-24 academic year.

Laajala had spent the prior two years as the Assistant Athletic Director of External Relations/Senior Woman Administrator for LSSU where she was responsible for all athletic department ticket operations, sponsorship fulfillment, game presentation, and marketing functions. As the Senior Woman Administrator, Laajala has been involved in community outreach initiatives and student-athlete well-being. 

Laajala served as Interim Deputy Athletic Director at LSSU during the transitional phase between the announcement of Dr. Dave Diles' retirement in Aug. 2023 and the beginning of Tory Lindley's tenure as Director of Athletics in Nov. 2023. 

Laajala has worked at Lake Superior State University since August 2016 as the Marketing & Membership Services Coordinator of the Norris Events Center. In her role, Laajala has managed all service areas of the Norris Center, developed all marketing materials for the Norris Center & University Recreation, created programming for all of LSSU’s University Recreation, and supervised a staff of over thirty student workers. She has been responsible for the coordination of all large scale university and community events held in the Norris Center. 

Since May 2016, Laajala has run the LSSU hockey social media accounts on a volunteer basis.  She has increased the following on all main channels, including approximately 6,500 new followers on Twitter. Additionally, Laajala has been a committee member for Pink in the Rink/Check.Slash.Survive, and involved in numerous community outreach events.

A native of Houghton, Mich., Laajala graduated from Michigan Technological University with a bachelor’s degree in sports and fitness management. Laajala currently resides in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.