HCAC Hosts 2022 SAAC Leadership Retreat

By Press release submission

Nov 18, 2022

The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) held its 2022 Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) leadership retreat on Saturday and Sunday. The two-day event saw student athletes from the member campuses ascend upon Indianapolis, Ind. for a retreat that focused on providing leadership training and other personal growth opportunities for the participants.

HCAC SAAC Leadership Retreat Photo Album

The retreat kicked off with the HCAC SAAC Leadership participating in a basketball event with the Madison County Special Olympics. The first half of the session saw attendees host drill stations for all the attendees, followed by a pair of basketball contests. The NCAA Division III and Special Olympics have fostered a long standing partnership, with the HCAC excited to continue working with its local partners.

The next session was a mental health seminar with Dr. Braden Brown, PHD, MA. Brown is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Family Medicine at the Indiana University Methodist Family Medicine Residency and is the head Athletic Counselor for IUPUI Athletics where he provides clinical mental health services and mental skills training to student-athletes and coaches from 18 Division I varsity sports teams. The group participated in the hands on seminar, a competitive game of jeopardy and learned mental health techniques they can bring back to their individual campuses.

Day one was capped off by a session at the Game Show Battle Rooms, Indianapolis. The group went head to head in a custom game show arena in three different games.

On Sunday, the participants took part in a personal assessment workshop aimed at improving teamwork, communication, and productivity. Through a partnership with the NCAA, who provided the DiSC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness) assessment, facilitator Ayanna Tweedy (Athletic Director | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) worked with the attendees to understand their personal assessment to encourage personal growth.

The HCAC hosted a league-wide SAAC meeting, with attendees in person connecting virtually with members of the 10 campuses across the three states that make up the conference. The group discussed initiatives for 2022-23, including focuses on team support, Division III week preparation, mental health, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Some attendees shared their thoughts following the retreat below:

"The HCAC SAAC leadership retreat this past weekend was a blast," shared Earlham College student Nate Hemmerich. "We were able to get to play with SO athletes in basketball, hear a great mental health talk from Dr. Braden Brown, got to bond as a group at Gameshow battle rooms (Hermit Crabs won of course). The DISC assessment the following day helped show us our personalities and how we can communicate better within our institutions. The HCAC SAAC meeting was a productive one as we introduced new ideas that athletes can take back to their institutions as well. Overall, it was a very productive yet fun weekend."

Overall, 20 HCAC student-athletes from nine of the HCAC's institutions were in attendance to develop personally and professionally, while learning key concepts to take back to their campus.