September 19th 2010, SAAC Meeting in 324A conference room – 7 pm
Attendance:
John Ripepi – Baseball
Kris McLaughlin- M. Basketball
Danielle Parenteau- W. Soccer
Chelsey Burke-W. Basketball
Sam Miller- W. Soccer
Karrah Chapman- W. Soccer
Carrie Richards- Tennis
Jill Garierpy- volleyball
Rachel Nichols- volleyball
Kayla Bromback- volleyball
Haley Gundersen- volleyball
Amanda Lane- volleyball
Joe Duncan- baseball
Dan Saunders- M. Soccer
Emily Minns- tennis
Jessie Guay- tennis
Shannon Maloney- W. Soccer
Lauren Ford- W. Soccer
Lizzie Ryan- W. Soccer
Olivia McMullen- W. Basketball
Lucy Tremblay- W. Basketball
Jen Wehner- W. Basketball/ Soccer
Hilary Perks- W. Basketball
Danielle Scolpino W. Basketball
Jessica Dailey- W. Basketball
Tim Hand- M. Soccer
Dot Houston – advisor
Teams missing: mgolf, softball, mwxc
*softball had a study hall/meeting - exempt
What is SAAC? The student athletic advisory committee assembles to provide insight on the studentathlete experience. The SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and policies that affect studentathletes' lives on NCAA/MASCAC member institution campuses for future years. MCLA’s SAAC also
holds fan days for all sports, community service actions and discusses NCAA Legislation and challenges
student-athletes face along with other special activities.
Regional SAAC Conference: Last year the regional conference was held in Jersey City, NJ. It had
consisted of disc test (what your personality is, influential steadiness and conscience, group work during
a long weekend – two student-athletes attended along with Coach Amanda Beckwith)
National SAAC Coaches Forum: Also last year the national conference was held in Indianapolis, IN. It
was a great opportunity for those who may have a coaching minor offered through MCLA especially.
The event had all thee divisions represented. They went over tactics how to coach, hypothetical
situations, and a day to practice with other division athletes. Dan Saunders – m soccer and Kris
McLaughlin – m basketball attended free of cost. Both students highly recommend this opportunity.
Students from other sports will have the opportunity to apply on line starting October 15th. See Dot
Houston if interested.
Disc Test: activity performed with teams to determine who would work well with other people and
what you can do to work well with others. Kris McLaughlin will send a link to students to do the test on
line – it is for your personal usage. Kris McLaughlin asked questions and each person went to an area of
the room which best represented them. The group then had a discussion on the characterizations and
how that would effect a group or team working together positively or negatively. Kris elaborated on
how his experience doing the disc test has assisted him with team work on and off the playing field.
Dominate, Influence , Conscience, Steady
5 different committee groups for the year: This year SAAC will have 5 different sub-committee
groups for the academic year, mainly to become more organized and spread out the task of the studentathletes
Special events: Chair – Chelsey Burke - Olympiad, tag sale, midnight madness, phonathon, breakfast
with the President
Marketing: Chair – Sam Miller - set up flyers, posters, first class notices, etc for fan days, SAAC
meetings and any other special events held by SAAC
Fan day: Chair – Danielle Parenteau - different events run through SAAC in order to encourage fans to
attend games for different seasons/sports – if you have ideas please email Danielle!
E-portfolio: Chair – Kris McLaughlin - essentially a professional facebook for SAAC and the SAAC
newsletter will be produced by this group
MASCAC SAAC: Chair – John Ripepi - connect with other MASCAC SAAC members with conference
calls, physical meetings and spring community service project
Community service: already in early September teams have taken on a few different community
service tasks to date - such as- W. Volleyball having fourteen teammates and one coach working with neighboring children at
the CYC in Pittsfield during a volleyball clinic (3hrs) and the Women’s soccer (22 members, 3
hrs), Men’s soccer (10 players, 1 hr) and Tennis (3 players, 3 hrs) participated in “helping
hands” which is a day dedicated to assisting members of the freshmen class move into their
dorms.
BlazingTrails Project: an award given during the Spring Athletic Banquet to the MCLA team
with the combination of the best win lost record, accumulative team gpa, volunteer work, post
season play, and attendance at SAAC meetings. It promotes all teams and athletes to get involved
and do well with their academics, while working to achieve other goals through the school with
their season. Team to beat – W. Basketball!
MCLA Golf tournament: (Berkshire Hills CC in Pittsfield) Golf outing to be held on September 20th.
Representatives from each team are encouraged to attend the event during dinner to network with
participants and assist with any fundraising. This is a major fundraiser for the athletic department.. Dot
Houston is coordinating reps from each team. If you need a ride – a van will be leaving the van parking
lot at 4:30 pm – if you are traveling separately – please arrive, dress to impress, by 5 pm.
Next SAAC meeting: Sunday, September 26 at 6pm
Adjourned: