By Emily Jeamel '24 / Sports Information Intern

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. --  On Sunday, January 29, Eastern Connecticut State University hosted the annual Little East Conference Student-Athlete Advisory  Committee (SAAC) conference from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at ECSU's Betty Tipton Room. This year had been the first in-person meeting since the pandemic, with over 50 athletes from across the Little East involved.

LEC SAAC is a committee comprised of student-athletes from the conference's nine primary institutions that provide insight on their athletic experiences and offer a player's input on NCAA rules and regulations. The program strives to provide leadership opportunities and build a sense of community between all athletic teams. Through SAAC, the NCAA has given athletes a voice by appointing it one vote at NCAA conventions.  

In attendance at LEC SAAC was LEC Commissioner Dr. Pamela Samuelson, who led the program by giving brief opening remarks. Among the Eastern student-athletes in attendance were Jaren Haddock and Nathan Yeich (men's soccer), Tori Heaphy, Maggie Rubeck and Maddy Bowen (softball), Bella Johnson (volleyball), Jillian Parenteau and Maya Sadowski (women's soccer), Jaclyn Santella (women's basketball), and Katherine Platt (women's track & field).

The guest speaker for the conference, Dan Armida, is a highly accomplished and certified coach and instructor with over 35 years of experience in sports. Armida is a mental performance master certified professional who holds more than 30 coaching certifications. His presentation focused on leadership, performance anxiety, and ways to excel in the mental aspect of sports. He discussed ways to help athletes improve their focus, manage anxiety and stress, build confidence, and develop mental toughness. Armida also works with athletes to set and achieve their goals, improve communication through being a leader, and how to perform under pressure. When asked about the conference, Santella stated, "My biggest takeaway is how important mental health is for student athletes and that it affects so many people across different sports." 

This conference gave student-athletes the ability to look into new NCAA legislation, mental health, and performance anxiety through discussions, speakers, and exercises.  

The new NCAA rule proposals were presented at the SAAC meeting by LEC associate commissioner Darryl Konicki. The NCAA established a new structure for the playing seasons by eliminating weeks and now using days as the measurement for a season. This proposal offers an alternative to the previous framework that provides more flexibility for coaches to work with their players. For fall and spring sports, this legislation allows traditional segments a start and end date, and it would increase the nontraditional segments from 16 to 24 days. The winter sports seasons would be given 114 days with the flexibility to use eight of those days before or after the season. Another new legislation rule is that the NCAA will establish a hardship waiver process for mental health to include its own waiver criteria separate from one for physical injuries. The NCAA had also defeated a proposal for a fall sports pre-season acclimation period.