it's not time yet...

Nine days ago I sat in our University bookstore and watched our pending graduates go through the process of ordering their caps and gowns. I certainly don't know as many students as I did when I worked in athletics, but I've still been fortunate enough to get to know a bunch of these seniors. Some of them have had dinner in my home or even taken care of my kiddos. I went to their games, I've written letters of recommendation for them, I've listened to their friend problems, and I generally tried to encourage them as they tackled the adventure that we like to call the "best four years of your life."

Nine days ago, people were getting anxious about COVID-19 in the United States, but it still felt a little premature. One of the graduates mentioned she was worried about graduation and I really hadn't even thought about not having graduation. The next day the NCAA canceled winter and spring championships and it felt so premature. I can't imagine what that felt like for all of those student-athletes. There were literally games in progress that everyone just walked away from... some of those student-athletes will never play their sport competitively again. Following the NCAA announcement, conferences across the country made the difficult decision to cancel spring competition. Everyone knows it was necessary, but it doesn't make it any less painful. There are student-athletes who were just shy of breaking a record. There are student-athletes who had high hopes for a Cinderella season. There are student-athletes who were dreaming of a winning season. And it's gone. My heart aches for the unfinished seasons... the unfinished dreams.

One of the more frustrating parts of this is the idea that people think the NCAA granting another year of eligibility will make everything better. Maybe that works in Division I or even Division II, particularly for scholarship student-athletes, but how many Division III student-athletes are going to come back for another year or even take off a semester and come back in the spring to finish their careers? TCNJ women's lacrosse senior may have summarized it best when she was quoted as saying, "We're not going to come back, we just can't afford to do that. A lot of us have already planned our future. We have jobs, we're moving away, whatever the case is. It's good in theory that they are giving more eligibility but it's just not an option in Division III for us.”

Again, not the NCAA's fault let alone is there any conference or institution to blame, but it just sucks and there's no bandaid to make it all better. Someday I hope we can look back and say it was all worth it. It wasn't easy last week and I'm not sure it was any easier this week, but I hope they can mourn the loss, find closure and still look back fondly on all that they accomplished as a collegiate athlete.

This week we joined a number of other Universities and made another difficult decision to cancel graduation. I know there are so many graduates who are still mourning that loss. They have worked so hard and spent a lot of money to be able to earn that opportunity. Thankfully, we have an opportunity for them to celebrate in December during our Winter Commencement, but I know that doesn't all of a sudden make it all better. I am praying that our spring grads will return to celebrate with us in December. They earned it.

I want to be able to fix this, but I think this one is beyond my area of expertise. I'm praying for all of those impacted by the pandemic no matter how trivial your impact may seem.

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