ECAC And GNAC Team Up For Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Retreat

HYANNIS, Mass. – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) teamed up for the first-ever ECAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Retreat held here on Saturday and Sunday at The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis. Every year, the GNAC holds a unique SAAC event, and this year’s event was hosted by the ECAC and focused on leadership development.

Last weekend’s leadership event featured NCAA programming involving the DiSC Behavioral Assessment and “The Power of Laughter in Leadership” presented by Gail Hand.

The SAAC Retreat also provided a great networking opportunity for student-athletes to discuss their school events, initiatives and community projects, as well as a time to develop friendships among the different SAAC representatives. To allow some of these friendships to develop, there was some fun activities built into the busy programming. On Saturday evening, the student-athletes enjoyed a nice dinner, followed by go-cart racing, miniature golf and arcade games.

One of the highlights of the program came on Sunday morning when the SAAC group got up early to volunteer with a local Special Olympics soccer team. The student-athletes assisted with the drills during the practice, and even had a chance to play a friendly scrimmage with the team.

Students were represented from several GNAC schools including Gisyra Hidalgo (Anna Maria), Luis Frias (Anna Maria), Chanae Earle (Emmanuel), Xavier Everson (Emmanuel), Katie Morvan (Mount Ida), Tylita Butler (Norwich), Sam Weiner (Norwich), Macayla Kirylo (Pine Manor), Sarah Howard (Rivier), Jake Nelson (Rivier), Terese Cerins (St. Joseph’s - Connecticut), Mary Hyde (St. Joseph - Connecticut), Allyson Woods (St. Joseph’s - Maine), Rachael Mullen (Simmons), Lindsey Rogers (Suffolk) and Steve Zanette (Suffolk).

The event was an overall success. The student-athletes learned more about their leadership styles, met new friends, gave back to the community, and most importantly, had fun!