Note: At the 2013 NCAA Convention in Grapevine, Texas last week (Jan. 16-19), CoSIDA 2nd Vice President
Eric McDowell, the Union College (N.Y.) Assistant AD for Sports Information (
right) met and made individual presentations to the NCAA DI, DII and DIII national SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee). Here is his summary of how athletic communicators can work closely with their campus and conference SAAC groups. Included are the thoughts of SAAC representative Nafeesa Connolly, a volleyball standout from Simmons College in Boston.
At the 2012 CoSIDA Convention in St. Louis, McDowell moderated a panel of current student-athletes who are all national leaders in SAAC. You can
view the archived session here on CoSIDA's YouTube channel.
Where do we find those stories…the stories inside the uniform, inside the person…the stories in the community, classroom, overseas, and in the hospitals, elementary schools and middle schools? What are your student-athletes really up to? We’d love to know.
So would your president, your athletic director, your alumni and fans.
The Student Athlete Advisory Committee is your best bet to get to know the student-athletes beyond the score. They are the leaders on your campus, and they have the pulse of the teams. They know the stories, and you can develop a relationship with them that will benefit both parties.
At the recent NCAA Convention,
Eric McDowell (Union, NY), CoSIDA’s 2nd Vice President, once again presented to each of the NCAA divisional SAAC leaders. This year, he tweaked his presentation to show the results of the development of the relationship between the SID and SAAC on campuses. Five stories were discussed to the group, emotional stories that were brought to the attention of the sports communications professional from a member of the SAAC group on that campus. You can read about the presentation and the stories in the attachment
HERE.
Nafessa Connolly of Simmons College (
pictured, right) is a member of the NCAA Division III SAAC, and also represents student-athletes on working group with NCAA and C
oSIDA leadership.
“Student-athletes have relationships with their teammates, coaches, and may be lucky enough to have ones with their AD, assistant AD, trainers and more. Sports information directors/SIDs often go off the radar because they're usually working behind the scenes of our athletics page, social media, game stats, and what not,” said Connolly.
Here are more of Connolly's thoughts:
“I think any relationship is a good relationship, especially if one is involved in athletics on their campus. The SID and student-athlete relationship can, like any relationship, lead to job opportunities, a friendship, but more importantly, a better understanding and appreciation for the individual and job. After attending the CoSIDA convention I was able to fully understand the role of an SID. It goes much deeper than just taking stats. They manage a lot of behind the scenes action, the media and website, sometimes they even help with SAAC.Connecting with your SID can help them better promote the full character of a student-athlete, especially in Division III. Allowing that relationship to bloom can help the individual and the institution excel in that better understanding of both roles and help the word of mouth messaging, encouraging other faculty members or student-athletes to adopt such a relationship.”
Connolly was one of three NCAA students who attended the CoSIDA Convention in St. Louis in 2012 and presented to the convention members.
The success stories are out there. They are not hard to find, when you have the members of SAAC by your side.