2008 GNAC Professional Development Pictures and Overview
Boston, MASS – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) held its 3rd annual Professional Development Seminar on August 13th and 14th. The past two seminars focused on student-athlete well being and sportsmanship. The 2008 GNAC Professional Development Seminar’s focus was “Gender Equity and Diversity”.
Boston, MASS – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) held its 3rd annual Professional Development Seminar on August 13th and 14th. The past two seminars focused on student-athlete well being and sportsmanship. The 2008 GNAC Professional Development Seminar’s focus was “Gender Equity and Diversity”.
The event started on a beautiful August evening with a cookout on the hotel rooftop terrace overlooking the Boston city skyline. The following day, over 150 GNAC administrators, coaches, athletic trainers, sports information directors, and student-athletes gathered for a full day of activities. GNAC Commissioner Joe Walsh opened the day by welcoming everyone and presenting the 2007-2008 GNAC award recipients: Executive of the Year – Tony Mariano (Norwich); Sports Information Director of the Year – Alexis Mastronardi (Emmanuel); Athletic Trainer of the Year – Jeff Stone (Suffolk); GNAC Sportsmanship Award Winners – Michael Hebenstreit (St. Joe’s Maine) and Lauren Kreckie (Simmons); GNAC Woman of the Year – Jillian Leger (St. Joe’s Maine).
Both Dea Shipps, Associate Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Senior Woman Administrator at the ECAC, and Kim Ford, Associate Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the NCAA, spoke about their roles at the ECAC and NCAA and they shared information on diversity education opportunities that exist at the ECAC and the NCAA.
Keeping in tune with the conference’s overall theme of “Gender Equity and Diversity,” keynote speaker Janet Judge, President of Sports Law Associates LLC, presented on Title IX and gender equity issues. She also took a few minutes to discuss the internet and social networking websites.
Lastly, Keith Lee, Chief Operating Officer of the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS), and Stan Johnson, President and founder of Stan Johnson & Associates, discussed the diversity education workshops that they conduct for the NCAA. They talked about their findings over the past year at the different workshops across the country and provided a few examples of what happens at these workshops.
The day concluded with breakout meetings for the coaches, athletic trainers, student-athletes, and sports information directors to discuss the upcoming year.