SUWANEE, Ga. – The Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference was represented by 18 student-athletes last
week at the 2012 NCAA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. Made
possible through the NCAA Division III Strategic Initiative Grant,
the student-athletes participated in a wide range of activities
– from education sessions to business sessions to the NCAA
Honors Celebration.
“What an incredible week we had in Indianapolis,” said
SCAC Commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. “Our student-athletes took
full advantage of all that the NCAA Convention had to offer and
were engaging on all fronts – administratively and socially.
I can’t tell you how many people – fellow
commissioners, presidents and athletics directors – came up
to me and commented on how impressed they were with our kids.
Without a doubt, this initiative has proven to be the best use of
grant funds during my tenure with the conference.”
Hanberry said the grant from the NCAA provides the conference an
annual vehicle to focus on different areas of social responsibility
and integration. For the 2011-12 academic year, the focus was
Diversity and Gender Equity.
“One way that the conference office can help enhance or grow
a more diverse populace of future administrators is to engage
students while they are still on our campuses and provide these
students an opportunity to experience the various professional
development seminars and the social activities available as part of
the NCAA Convention,” said Hanberry. “Hopefully, some
of these young men and women will become interested in pursuing an
athletics administrative position upon graduation and see this as a
viable career path – be it at a SCAC institution or at
another institution of higher learning.”
Student-athletes from nine of the SCAC’s 12 member institutions attended, including: Emily Brzuzy, Erika Higgenbotham and De’Andre Holmes of Austin College; Tiarra Goode of Birmingham-Southern College; Kelsey Morell and Maggie Harkins of Colorado College; Heather Capozzella and Jarred Priester of the University of Dallas; Brittiny Casteen of Hendrix College; Raven Scott of Millsaps College; Lexi Vassell and Arness Holsey of Oglethorpe University; Taylor Wright, Shae Seagraves, Abigail O’Connor, Daniel Ayala and Stephen Montes of Southwestern University; and Sal Perdomo of Trinity University.
“The presence of the SCAC delegation at the 2012 Convention helped to reinforce the student-athlete experience, which is at the heart of the DIII Philosophy,” said Dan Dutcher, NCAA Vice President for Division III. “The SCAC student-athletes were very active and engaged, and added greatly to several business sessions. Their attendance and participation was very well received by our DIII delegates. The DIII governance structure leadership will work with our DIII SAAC and conference commissioners to build on the success of this model at future conventions.”
During the Convention, junior volleyball player Raven Scott of Millsaps College, one of the 18 SCAC student-athletes in attendance, posted a daily blog recapping some of the activities that she and her fellow student-athletes experienced. Each of those entries can be accessed here: www.scacsports.com/information/saac/2012_convention_blog.
“I really enjoyed my time at the Convention,” said
Scott. “It definitely gives me a greater appreciation, not
only for Division III athletes and all the sports and championships
we have, but also for our administration and our coaches who spend
so much time coming to the Convention learning what the NCAA and
the rules are about. It makes the experience better for all of us
– for now and for the future.”
Southwestern University, with five representatives, had the largest
contingent of SCAC student-athletes in attendance. Dr. Glada Munt,
Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics at Southwestern,
had the opportunity to spend time with the group during several
business sessions and luncheons.
"Watching the SCAC student-athlete representatives interact and
experience the NCAA Convention last week was the highlight of my
trip to Indianapolis,” said Dr. Munt. “As an athletic
director I was amazed, intrigued, amused, impressed, and proud of
all of our student-athletes. The goals and expectations that
lay behind the decision of the NCAA Division III Initiatives to
bring student-athletes to the Convention were certainly exceeded by
our SCAC student-athletes. I have to believe that their
experiences last week will be some of their best memories when they
cross the stage for each of their respective graduations!"
For some, the highlight of the Convention was the glamorous Friday
evening event that is the annual Honors Celebration. Daniel Ayala
of Southwestern met and posed for pictures with his long-time hero
David Robinson, formerly of the United States Naval Academy and the
San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. Oglethorpe University’s Lexi
Vassell persuaded Robinson to let her try on his NBA championship
ring and posed for a picture while wearing it.
That same evening, while in a discussion with Doris Burke, the
former basketball star at Providence College and current ESPN
broadcaster, Southwestern’s Taylor Wright, when mentioning
that she too would like to explore a career in broadcasting, was
offered Ms. Burke’s personal e-mail address for future
correspondence.
“I think the best thing about the Honors Celebration was that
we celebrated people who were well-rounded student-athletes,”
said Abigail O’Connor of Southwestern. “The major thing
that we all forget, especially with the emphasis on Division I
athletics, is that we are students first. Seeing people being
celebrated for their achievements in both academics and athletics
was refreshing and inspiring.”
For others, the simpler things discovered over a week of
fraternizing with fellow SCAC student-athletes at the NCAA
Convention will be the bigger takeaway.
“The thing I enjoyed the most about getting to know other
students and student-athletes in our conference is the dedication
that everyone has to their sport,” said Heather Capozzella of
the University of Dallas. “Everyone is actually so friendly.
When you’re in a competition, you’re nervous and you
don’t want to talk to anyone because everyone seems so
frightening. But when you really get to know them, everyone is a
lot of fun; everyone has great and different personalities –
I just really enjoyed getting to know each and every one
here.”
One common theme throughout the week was the sense of pride the
SCAC student-athletes displayed in representing their institutions
and the SCAC while serving as ambassadors for all Division III
student-athletes.
“Walking around the NCAA Convention, I definitely felt a
great sense of pride being one of the few student-athletes
here,” said Brittiny Casteen of Hendrix College. “It
helped to represent what the NCAA is about – it’s about
the students and it’s about the athletes. Just being able to
have our voices heard and to actually have people come up to us and
tell us that our voices and our opinions and our concerns actually
mean something to them and they’ve actually listened to us
– that gives you a great sense of pride.”
“I took great pride in representing the Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference and Trinity University,” said Sal
Perdomo. “Being some of the few student-athletes at the
Convention, we really made an impression on the athletics
directors, presidents and faculty athletic representatives at the
Convention and they really enjoyed having us here.”