Student Athlete Advisory Committee makes impact on campus, community
Posted by Administrator on Sep 24 2008
Sports >>

Photo courtesy of Shawn Fairbanks
Members of SAAC are working to make a difference at UNK and in the community. The committee serves as a representative for the student-athletes on campus.

By Jonathan Cannon
Antelope Staff

Just when athletes thought their voices weren't important, the NCAA has teamed up with many college campuses to let athletes' voices from every sport, big or small, be heard.

The SAAC organization stands for Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

The goals and objectives of the SAAC organization are to promote communication between athletic administration and student athletes, provide feedback and insight into athletic department issues, generate a student-athlete voice within the campus athletic department formulation of policies, build a sense of community within the athletic program involving all teams, solicit student-athlete responses to proposed conference and NCAA legislation, organize community service efforts, create a vehicle for student-athlete representation on campus-side committees and promote a positive student-athlete image on campus.

All these goals are achieved through several activities that SAAC members do throughout the academic year. To help promote the SAAC organization, a tool called CHAMPS is used in many Division I campuses and here at UNK. CHAMPS is a product of the SAAC organization that stands for Challenging Athletes' Minds for Personal Success.

Through the CHAMPS system, athletic teams have the opportunity to achieve points based on a point system that can earn the entire team a huge prize at the end of the year.

Last year's women's basketball team won a huge pizza party supported by the athletic department. The team showed community support by generating over 300 hours of service, being involved with athletes supporting athletes, going to many different sporting events and showing their support for all the teams at UNK, personal enhancement and communicating to the team any changes or issues in the SAAC organization.

One huge success to last year's SAAC and CHAMPS organization was the outreach program. Since the Women's Elite 8 basketball tournament was in Kearney, SAAC teamed up with the NCAA and went to several elementary schools in the community to promote good sportsmanship to all the youth.

The first meeting for SAAC was Sept. 18, and the agenda for this year has not been set. However, new members have been introduced to the organization. Keep a close watch on the SAAC organization and its involvement in upcoming events on campus and in the community.