Last week, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) met with the Club Sports Council for the first time. The meeting was a way for varsity and club sports to come together in a forum in an effort to share their collective concerns. During the meeting, the two parties discussed the possibility of collaboration to make the Mount Holyoke athletic community more cohesive. Future possibilities include having club sports participate in the Game of the Week, as well Peck school volunteering opportunities. The Club Sports Council also expressed a wish to have SAAC’s name changed, believing that its title is misleading.
This year the College has put Associate Athletics Director Lori Hendricks in charge of club sports. Laurie Priest, Athletics Director, is confident in Hendricks’ abilities to help varsity teams with leadership training and student-athlete development, but also believes Hendricks will bring those same benefits to the club teams. It was Hendricks’ idea to bring the executive board of SAAC and the Club Sport Council together. The meeting began with an “icebreaking” activity that broke down myths between the two parties. “I think there’s been sometimes some tension between club sport athletes and varsity athletes, and so it was sort of breaking down myths as far as recognizing…that there were probably more similarities than differences,” explained Priest. The activity also served to bring more awareness to both councils of the diversity of the athletic community. “As a varsity athlete, I unfortunately don’t even know what some of the club sports are, so that was a really nice,” said varsity rower Carol Still ’12.
Club sports, like the Western riding team, were very enthusiastic to have the opportunity to draw more attention to their sport. The Western team, a group that practices off campus, finds it difficult to participate in Mount Holyoke’s athletic community. “Interacting with the Club Sports Council and SAAC gives us the chance to get our name out there and to be more involved with the other athletic teams on campus,” said Western Captain Kate Santella ’10.
Although both councils do share commonalities, club and varsity sports do not have all of the same objectives. The two parties plan to meet again on some sort of regular basis, though it is yet to be determined how often the two will meet.
Related posts:
- SAAC News
- Athletic training extended to club sport athletes
- Club sport athletes say teams should be eligible for credit
- Students upset over lack of PE credit for club sports
- Club sports: athletic alternative
