INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) held its 2021 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 attendees volunteering at the Special Olympics Unified High School Sports Indiana Bocce State Championship at Carmel High School. 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 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 2021-22, including focuses on mental health, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
 
Day one was capped off by a leadership training session, facilitated by ComedySports Indianapolis. The group utilized Improv-based training and team building to teach leadership skills to the attendees.
 
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 (Associate Director of Athletics/SWA | Wabash College) worked with the attendees to understand their personal assessment to encourage personal growth.
 
The leadership workshop concluded with the attendees participating in the 2021 HCAC Unified Bowling Championship.
 
Some attendees shared their thoughts following the retreat below:
 
We have had so much fun getting to know fellow student athletes from around the conference," said Rose-Hulman student athletes Ashley Pinkham and Tim Wilson.  "We have learned so much about our leadership styles and look forward to applying what we learned back on campus."
 
"We had such a great weekend forming new connections, and relationships with other competitors in the conference," added Marissa Auvil, Grace Fillinger and Milan Shilling from Bluffton University. "It was also a great learning experience and teaching tool for what we can take back to campus with us."
 
"We had an amazing weekend with some extraordinary student-athletes from the conference," said Defiance College's Alivia Kruczkowski and Grant Johnson "We learned the importance of different leadership styles such as stability and influence. We'd like to thank Defiance as well as the HCAC for this opportunity."
 
"This weekend was absolutely spectacular," added Noah LaBelle from Anderson University. "I learned a myriad of leadership techniques and about my own leadership styles with my strengths and weaknesses. I had so much fun and laughed more than I have in a very long time. The other SAAC representatives are truly amazing people and are a ton of fun to be around. So glad I came this weekend."
 
"The retreat in Indy this weekend showed us what SAAC is all about," shared Hanover College's Taten Arnold and Lanette Blume. "By engaging with fellow athletes in the HCAC, we were able to realize how much potential we have to influence not only our campus, but other areas as well. There is so much more that we can do on campus, and we can take the ideas learned this weekend and implement them within our athletic departments on campus to become more united. Overall, the convention expressed to us that student athletes are not just athletes but have the capability of playing a positive role in peoples' lives outside of sports. #HCACunited."
 
Overall, nearly 20 HCAC student-athletes from eight of the HCAC's institutions were in attendance to develop personally and professionally, while learning key concepts to take back to their campus. 
 
For more information on all things HCAC, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the HCAC's home on the internet at www.heartlandconf.org. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference news by following @HCACDIII on Twitter and by liking the "HCAC DIII" Facebook page.