finding the good in college athletics...

Landmark SAAC representatives at the NCAA Convention with
Dan Dutcher, NCAA Vice President for Division III

Every January, the NCAA holds its annual Convention. There are educational sessions and conference meetings, but the primary purpose is to vote on legislation for the Association. While working for the conference office, the Convention has been one of the annual highlights for me. Around this time last year, our office started making plans to bring student-athletes to the 2015 Convention. Other conferences have done it in the past so we stole borrowed another conference's materials and set aside grant funding to make it happen. I became the point person on the project and spent nearly a year coordinating everything... 

And then I accepted a new job back in North Carolina, outside of college athletics. When I decided to take the new job, there were a bunch of moving pieces to figure out the transition, but I'm so grateful both employers were willing to help me still attend the Convention. There are definitely some perks to attending, but I also felt an obligation to see the student-athletes' trip through to completion. 

I started my new job January 6 in North Carolina and then drove back to Maryland on January 13 to attend the Convention January 14-17 at the National Harbor just outside of DC. I had spent a ton of time over the previous year trying to figure out how to make sure they all got along. I was about to put nine people together who attend different colleges and universities in the same conference. They compete against each other's institution every year and have developed rivalries that I hoped did not carry over off the field or court. A few met during our SAAC meeting in November, but they were essentially strangers and eight of the nine had to share a hotel room with one of these strangers. 

I won't bore you with the details of the trip, but I have to tell you I couldn't be more proud of this group of students. I'm so grateful to their advisors and administrators for recommending them and I owe the student-athletes a ton of thanks for embracing the experience. We went to a Convention with a ton of conversation centered around the Division I, "Big 5" and all of the discussion about paying student-athletes and providing them with extra benefits. Meanwhile, I spent most of my week with a group of student-athletes who are proud to be a part of Division III and they are soaking up all of the opportunities that come with it. They participated in the sessions, asserted themselves when appropriate and left with great relationships that spanned across sport and institution boundaries.

I left on Saturday reminded of why I love college athletics, but especially Division III athletics. I met a group of college students who are smart, talented, absolutely hilarious and they're going to be extremely successful in the "real world." I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to meet them and thrilled to let this experience be a bookend on my time at the conference office.

#commonsense