CAA STUDENT-ATHLETES, ADMINISTRATORS ATTEND NCAA LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
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RICHMOND,
Va. (Nov. 5, 2009) - Representatives from 11 of the 12 Colonial Athletic
Association members met in Atlanta, Ga. on October 23-25, 2009 to attend the
NCAA Division I Regional Leadership Conference.
The Leadership Conference welcomed schools from the Mid-Atlantic Region,
which included the Atlantic 10, Atlantic Coast, Big South, Colonial Athletic
Association and the Mid-Eastern Athletic conferences.
The NCAA
invited student-athletes, coaches, faculty members and administrators from
these conferences and opened opportunities for everyone to interact with each
other and learn to build partnerships, develop leadership skills and discuss
Division I issues that impact student-athletes.
As a part of the conference, participants developed both professionally
and personally as they explored individual values, communication styles and
leadership behaviors that can be used on their campuses and communities to
promote positive change.
On Friday, all
of the participants gathered for the opening session and learned that the theme
of this year's conference was "Leadership Through Service." The participants were then broken up into
color teams for various workshops that would continue through the weekend. Each color team was guided by a pair of
facilitators as they assisted the participants during an exploration of
behavioral styles and leadership skills through self assessment and peer
feedback. Some items the participants
were introduced to when defining a strong leader included, values, branding, people
reading, goal setting, etc.
On Saturday,
the color teams regrouped and continued learning about what makes a strong
leader, including "The Six Domains Leadership Pyramid". The participants were introduced to the DiSC
Profile and were taught how to utilize the DiSC to make them better leaders as
well as interacting positively with their leaders.
Saturday
afternoon all of the color teams were disbursed between two different
elementary schools around the Atlanta area for a community service
activity. The participants helped the elementary
school students, their parents and their school teachers with beautifying the
school grounds. Many of the activities
included building gardens and planting shrubbery, painting mural boards, and
interacting with the elementary students through crafts and physical
activities.
The Division
I student-athletes completed the day gathering with their conference members
for a Conference Corner discussion. The
CAA started our conference corner session with a trivia game about the league
and its history and then moved onto other topics relating to our conference and
the impact of the student-athletes. CAA
Senior Associate Commissioner Kathleen Batterson opened a discussion about
sportsmanship, which was followed by a presentation by CAA Director of
Communications Niki DeSantis about what the Communications Department
accomplishes on a daily basis. CAA
Intern for Compliance and Administration Marisa Biggins shared with the student-athletes
the duties of her daily job at the conference office and post-graduate
opportunities at the CAA headquarters.
The
conference began its close on Sunday with a special keynote speaker, Nancy Lieberman.
Lieberman, an Old Dominion alumni and former women's basketball student-athlete,
spoke to all the participants about leadership and stressed the importance for
the participants to "accept all challenges put in front you," while giving
examples from her own experiences. Later
on that afternoon, the participants completed their color team assignments with
learning how to goal set and wrapped up the conference as the participants said
their "See You Laters" to their color teams and new friends as they headed back
to their campuses as future leaders.
2009 NCAA DIVISION I LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE CAA ATTENDEES
|
Name
|
Title
|
School
|
|
Bryan Vitagliano
|
Assistant Men's Soccer
Coach
|
University of Delaware
|
|
Meredith Rubin
|
Student-Athlete/ W.
Rowing
|
University of Delaware
|
|
Andrew Unthank
|
Student-Athlete/ M. Lacrosse
|
University of Delaware
|
|
Kathy O'Brian
|
Asst. Dir. of Academics
and Student Services
|
Drexel University
|
|
Katrina Gaudier
|
Student-Athlete/ Softball
|
Drexel University
|
|
Justin Hummel
|
Student-Athlete/ M.
Lacrosse
|
Drexel University
|
|
Nena Rogers
|
Life Skills Coordinator
|
George Mason University
|
|
Joseph Norton
|
Student-Athlete/ M.
Volleyball
|
George Mason University
|
|
Lindsay Gray
|
Student-Athlete/ W.Tennis
|
George Mason University
|
|
Dominique Holloman
|
Assistant Director of
Compliance
|
Georgia State University
|
|
Brittany Graham
|
Student-Athlete/ W.
Basketball
|
Georgia State University
|
|
Bradley Logan
|
Student-Athlete/ Baseball
|
Georgia State University
|
|
Thomas Shifflet
|
Head Wrestling Coach
|
Hofstra University
|
|
Steve Bonanno
|
Student-Athlete/
Wrestling
|
Hofstra University
|
|
Candice Bellocchio
|
Student-Athlete/ W.
Basketball
|
Hofstra University
|
|
Alise Svihla
|
Academic Advisor
|
James Madison University
|
|
Raymond Brown
|
Student-Athlete/ Football
|
James Madison University
|
|
Ida Donner
|
Student-Athlete/ W.
Tennis
|
James Madison University
|
|
Rodney Young
|
Academic Support
Coordinator
|
University of North
Carolina-Wilmington
|
|
John Dillashaw
|
Student-Athlete/ M. Track
and Field
|
University of North
Carolina-Wilmington
|
|
Jessica Cohen
|
Student-Athlete/ W.
Basketball
|
University of North Carolina-Wilmington
|
|
Taryn Provencher
|
Asst. Dir., Compliance
& Student-Ath. Welfare
|
Northeastern University
|
|
Erika Smotrycz
|
Student-Athlete/ Swimming
& Diving
|
Northeastern University
|
|
Jonathan Hall
|
Student-Athlete/ M. Track
and Field
|
Northeastern University
|
|
Margie Tversky
|
Associate Director for
Student Services
|
Towson University
|
|
Matt Hanzsche
|
Student-Athlete/ M. Lacrosse
|
Towson University
|
|
Tara Okusaga
|
Student-Athlete/ W. Track
and Field
|
Towson University
|
|
Alisha Childress
|
Life Skills Coordinator
|
Virginia Commonwealth
University
|
|
Joseph Edwards
|
Student-Athlete/ M. Track
and Field
|
Virginia Commonwealth
University
|
|
Christina Costello
|
Student-Athlete/ W. Cross
Country
|
Virginia Commonwealth
University
|
|
Chelsey Pryor
|
Athletics Business Manager
|
William & Mary
|
|
Ashley Williams
|
Student-Athlete/ W. Track
and Field
|
William & Mary
|
|
Kevin Alas
|
Student-Athlete/ Baseball
|
William & Mary
|
|
Kathleen Batterson
|
Senior Associate
Commissioner
|
CAA
|
|
Marisa Biggins
|
Compliance and
Administrative Intern
|
CAA
|
|
Niki DeSantis
|
Director of
Communications
|
CAA
|