SAAC Attends NAC Retreat

SAAC Attends NAC Retreat

YORK ME.-The Northern Vermont University-Johnson SAAC representatives Patrick Bell, Sheldon Billings, and Annika Dyhrberg traveled to York, Maine to take part in the North Atlantic Conference SAAC retreat this past weekend.  

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is a group made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and policies that affect student-athlete's lives on NCAA member institution campuses.

On the first day of the retreat, the conference workshopped an idea to enhance championship experiences for every member sport within the North Atlantic Conference. Some ideas included fan buses, fatheads of players competing in competition, and send off rallies. They also discussed a new initiative that worked with mental wellness called "P3 Thinking" which helps student-athletes put themselves in a better, more positive mindset.

The second and final day was more of an official meeting with the review of new NCAA legislation that showed support for a leadership program that would take place out-of-season between coaches and athletes, women's wrestling and acrobatics for emerging sports, and a designee for athletic diversity and inclusion. There was also discussion of how SAAC should be run at each member's institution.

The highlight of the day was towards the end of the meeting when SAAC representatives talked to their athletic administrators about how to take the topics discussed during the two days and how to implement their practices at their own respective campuses.