SAAC Engaged In Student Athlete Issues

By: Christina Donovan
Posted In: Sports

The Athletic department at Salve Regina University is running a bit smoother thanks to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, coming to be known on campus as the SAAC.

Salve Athletic Director Del Malloy is the faculty advisor for the club, which is mostly run by the two student chairs, Kacie Gallo and Ben Kelley.

Gallo, a junior at Salve, is majoring in Special and Elementary Education while busy playing both soccer and competing on the track team. It is her first year as co-chair, but her third year serving on the committee. Kelley is a senior majoring in Business Administration, and plays on the lacrosse team. The two student athletes are dedicated not only to their respective teams, but also to the SAAC and as role models to other athletes.

The council consists of roughly 22 student athletes, representing all of Salve Regina’s athletic teams. Each team is allowed to have two representatives. These representatives work to communicate between the athletic administration and the teams.

For the first time, all teams are represented.

“Sometimes, getting people is like pulling teeth and it is better to have a select few individuals who are really dedicated,” said Malloy.

There are three subdivisions within the SAAC: Communications, Student Athlete

Interests, and Community Service. The interests of student athletes are always

a main concern. Their busy schedules sometimes make it difficult for them to eat dinner when the cafeteria is open, or otherwise, they are unhappy with the meals they are given for the bus rides to away games. This is an example of the issues that are addressed by the students on the SAAC.

Other issues that may be addressed by this committee include missing classes. Due to game times, students often need to miss a class or two and then it becomes difficult for students to both be students and athletes. This committee also deals with any transportation issues a team may have or any other issues that affect the entire team.

Salve Regina is a university dedicated to helping in the community, and the SAAC continues that mission of reaching out. Not only does every sports team partake in community service, but the SAAC members also do additional community service as well.

This past semester the organization had a fundraiser where they collected a lot of the old Salve uniforms and sold them for $5 per article, and raised over $1000, which they decided to donate to two local charities, one being Lucy’s Hearth.

Gallo noted that beyond the fundraiser, the SAAC has also done a canned good drive and are in the process of a toy drive.

“Toys are being collected until the 14th of December,” said Gallo.

Helping in the community allows these student athletes not only to maintain their positive reputation on campus but also off campus as well.

The communication committee is in charge of keeping up to date the website and bulletin board. Keeping track of the minutes is a very important responsibility, so the university community knows what happens at meetings and the minutes can be referenced in the future. Communication is an important sub-committee because they are in charge of keeping records of what goes on and all events can be referenced and people can be notified of important information.

The SAAC allows student athletes to act as leaders above and beyond what they already are at Salve. Belonging to the SAAC shows a great sense of commitment and dedication.

“Being a member of SAAC allows people, especially freshman, the opportunity to become more involved in their sport but stepping into a leadership position on their team,” said Gallo.

There are various leadership conferences to which Salve is able to send representatives. These conferences vary from just the members of one league, to national conferences in locations such as Orlando, Florida.

Before Thanksgiving, Gallo and Kelley attended a conference with representatives from all of the schools in Salve’s league, the Commonwealth Coast Conference. There, they discussed issues such as sportsmanship, fan development, and class conflicts.

At Salve, increasing attendance at games is something that is a focus of next semester.

Right now there is talk of having raffles at the games to encourage people to attend. Another idea is to have cards which fans get stamped and incentives would follow for attending a certain number of games.

Every NCAA school is required to have a chapter of the SAAC and all schools run the organization differently. Salve’s chapter meets regularly, every other Friday at noon, although other schools do not meet as frequently, as some only meet once a semester.

“As an athlete at Salve, you are more than just on a team,” said Malloy.