Sydni Epps and Alan Hetherington attended the CAA SAAC Leadership Summit this past weekend

Athletics 11/3/2015 9:34:00 AM By Len Skoros

ATH: CAA SAAC Leadership Summit Recap

Hempstead, NY - Hofstra University student-athletes Sydni Epps (women's basketball), who also serves as the Colonial Athletic Association National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative, and Alan Hetherington (men's cross country), and Assistant Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete Services and Life Skills Development James Lally attended the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Leadership Summit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this past Sunday and Monday. The event was held November 1-2 and was hosted by Drexel University.

CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager, CAA Senior Associate Commissioner Kathleen Batterson, and CAA Director for Compliance & Student-Athlete Services Donna Jones also attended the SAAC Leadership Summit, which features SAAC representatives and advisors from each CAA institution.

"I am very pleased that Sydni, Alan and James attended the CAA SAAC Leadership Summit this past weekend," said Hofstra Vice President and Director of Athletics Jeff Hathaway. "The Leadership Summit is a great experience for our student-athletes as they participate in outstanding workshops and partner with other SAAC representatives from around the conference to address issues that pertain to college athletics."

The first day of the summit was held in the Sky View Room on the campus of Drexel University. After an introduction period, Lisa Markland and Marion Mason from the Northeastern University Center for the Study of Sport Society conducted a Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Program training. MVP motivates men and women to work together in preventing men's violence against women and other forms of relationship violence.

Following the MVP Presentation, NCAA Associate Director of Leadership Development Justin Paysinger held a DiSC Workshop. The DiSC Assessment aids participants in understanding their individual behavioral styles and preferences, developing a common language when addressing these topics, and learning to better relate to others.

The final day of the event took place in Drexel's Daskalakis Athletic Center where the student-athletes and advisors discussed "Hot Topic" issues with the group. The attendees were challenged to come up with ideas to help enhance the student-athlete experience. Philadelphia Eagles President Don Smolenski joined the Summit as an afternoon speaker during lunch Monday.

Commissioner Yeager, who is in his 31st and final year as the only commissioner of the CAA, then solicited input from CAA student-athletes on issues that affect them and heard their ideas about ways to enhance the student-athlete experience. The Summit concluded with a plan to implement best practices that were learned and developed over the weekend.

CAA SAAC LEADERSHIP SUMMIT STUDENT-ATHLETE PARTICIPANTS
Claire Newman, College of Charleston-Women's Soccer
Alex Pastorius, College of Charleston-Baseball
Elyse Andrews, Delaware-Women's Lacrosse
Calvin Scott, Delaware-Baseball
Rory McPhillips, Drexel-Women's Diving
Sean Swartz, Drexel-Men's Swimming and Diving
Bryanna Hames, Elon-Women's Track and Field
Neal Port, Elon-Men's Tennis
Sydni Epps, Hofstra-Women's Basketball (CAA National SAAC Rep)
Alan Hetherington, Hofstra-Men's Cross Country
Anne Zabel, James Madison-Women's Lacrosse
Aaron Hoover, James Madison-Baseball
Jaime Mangold, UNCW-Women's Cross Country
Zack Canada, UNCW-Baseball
Jackie Garruto, Northeastern-Women's Rowing
Isaac Lippert, Northeastern-Baseball
Vicki Vesecky, Towson-Gymnastics
John Hulede, Towson-Men's Golf
Brooke Stewart, William & Mary-Women's Basketball
Derek Trott, William & Mary-Men's Track and Field

CAA SAAC LEADERSHIP SUMMIT CAMPUS SAAC ADVISOR PARTICIPANTS
Kate Tiller, College of Charleston
Jennifer Judy, Delaware
Rachel Creighton, Drexel
Faith Shearer, Elon
James Lally, Hofstra
Brad Burgess, James Madison
Shauna Baker-Karl, UNCW
Justin Bell, Northeastern
Kelly Webb, Towson
Deidre Connelly, William & Mary

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