Maggie Corbett was thrilled to be the first Centre College student-athlete to sign a NIL deal with The 1926 Collective. (Larry Vaught Photo)
Senior Maggie Corbett admits she didn’t have the words to express her appreciation over being the first Centre College athlete to sign a NIL (name, image & likeness) deal arranged by The 1926 Collective.
“I think it is absolutely crazy. I am thrilled they wanted to give me this opportunity and cannot wait to see how it explodes in the years to come with us having so many alumni wanting to be involved in creating opportunities for female student-athletes at Centre College,” Corbett, a soccer player from Lexington, said.
This is believed to be the first female-focused NIL collective in Division III sports. Corbett wasn’t sure what to expect when she was initially contacted by the collective.
“I didn’t really know a lot about NIL before. I knew it was big in Division I and football and basketball players at UK were receiving deals but this caught me so off guard. I didn’t know how it even worked and to be the first one chosen at our school is such an honor,” Corbett said.
Her NIL deal is with Lexington accounting firm Besten and Dieruf, PLLC.
“Our team is loaded with amazing players, students and people. They were all so supportive of me when they found out about this after I told a bunch of friends on the team,” Corbett said. “Some other friends on other Centre teams also thought it was so cool for this to be happening.”
During the 2022 season she started all 21 games for Centre and seldom came off the field. She had seven goals and not only earned all-conference honors but was also named to the Southern Athletic Association all-sportsmanship and academic teams.
“Andrew (Dieruf) and the (1926) committee liked the recognition of the SAA all-sportsmanship team and the contributions that I made on the field,” Corbett said. “He also said he liked how I was defensive like his wife Kate, who was an All-American for Centre women’s soccer.”
Corbett is one of the soccer team captains and also serves as academic development director for her sorority Kappa Alpha Theta. She has helped at Centre soccer camps and is involved with Best Buddies on campus where she was club secretary.
Corbett is thrilled about the collective plans to help Centre athletes find internships and create opportunities outside of sports for the athletes.
“Honestly the potential networking is the most important part of this,” she said. “How many successful women athletes have come out of Centre College? It’s a lot. Now we might get more opportunities to shadow them in their field and have so many more outlets for networking opportunities to help us after college.
“What is so exciting about all this not only for me but for others in the future is how many more opportunities female athletes here will have. There will be more NIL deals for women hopefully. I’m glad I will get to go to some functions and talk about the collective.
“I want to represent CWS (Centre women’s soccer) well and also show how appreciative I am of receiving the first NIL deal from the collective.”
