May 7, 2010

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) recently gathered in Pittsburgh, Pa., for its annual meeting. The focus of the weekend was leadership and personal development, while engaging in meaningful dialogue on important issues that will impact student-athletes across the nation.

Those in attendance included Julia Adden (women's soccer) of Temple; Dayton's Ryan Bauer (men's soccer); Kathleen Bowens (rowing) of Fordham; Massachusetts' Jennifer Corriveau (swimming & diving); Kieran Edling (swimming & diving) of La Salle; St. Bonaventure's Cara Gustafson (women's basketball); David Kennedy (track & field) of Rhode Island; Richmond's Rebecca Kretchman (women's basketball); Darius Law (track & field) of Charlotte; George Washington's Bridget Mahon (women's soccer); Donielle White (women's soccer) of Xavier; Duquesne's Matthew Wollenschlaeger (swimming & diving); and Lauren Woods (women's basketball) of Saint Louis. Also in attendance were A-10 director of compliance Jill Redmond; committee chair Dr. Annette O'Connor of La Salle; St. Bonaventure director of athletics Steve Watson; Megan Winner, assistant athletic director, Dayton; and La Salle director of athletics Dr. Tom Brennan.

One of the many activities over the three-day workshop featured an in-person meeting at the headquarters of Crons, one of the fastest growing new brands in the sports apparel industry. Sotiris Aggelou, Vice President of Brand Development of The Crons Brand, along with Anthony Griggs (Director of Curriculum Training) and Pete Gonzalez (General Manager & Director of Development) introduced the SAAC to the Crons Achievers Program, which is designed to educate young people on the importance of setting goals and incorporating achievement strategies. Each student-athlete worked through both personal and campus SAAC goals with the Crons Team.

The group then took in the title match of the 2010 A-10 Women's Lacrosse Championship on the campus of Duquesne University to culminate the weekend activities. The contest was televised live on the CBS College Sports Network and the halftime segment featured Charlotte junior track & field standout Darius Law, the league's NCAA SAAC representative.

What Is SAAC? (Student-Athlete Advisory Committees)
SAAC is an organization that consists of student-athletes and exists at the national level (Division I, II and III), the conference and institutional level. NCAA legislation requires that member institutions and conference offices have SAAC organizations in order to:

* Provide insight on the student-athlete experience
* Offer input on the rules, regulations and polices that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses

Conference SAAC
Conference SAACs serve a number of roles, but the primary goal is to strengthen the communication between the campus and national SAAC committees. Through increased communication and networking, the SAACs hope to better represent the views of all student-athletes. Conference SAACs also support the efforts of campus SAACS through education and acting as a resource when needed.

The Crons Brand
The Crons Brand provides high quality motivational apparel, merchandise and accessories to inspire people to get better and constantly strive for their goals. The Crons Brand reinforces positive messages to athletes about what it takes to be a winner and the importance of working harder than anyone else in order to reach their full potential. Crons is a national brand with its message-themed and motivational merchandise and apparel already in use by over over 300 schools and organizations in 22 states. The Crons message reflects the kind of mentality and attitude that coaches strive to reinforce with their players

The Atlantic 10 Conference SAAC is a standing committee within the conference governance structure and consists of one representative from each institution, plus one alternate. The committee Chair is the FAR from LaSalle University (Dr. Annette O'Connor) and there are two ex-officio members (Steve Watson, St. Bonaventure University Athletic Director and Megan Winner, University of Dayton Assistant AD/SWA). The committee has a monthly conference call throughout the academic year, plus one in-person meeting each year.