Iowa Conference SAAC

Check Out the Release on Upcoming Leadership Conference

2012-01-30T18:34:00.000-08:00

Looking forward to having some of the Iowa Conference's best in Cedar Rapids this weekend. Click this link:

2012 IIAC Student-Athlete Leadership Conference

Wartburg Takes Advantage of MLK Service Day Opportunity

2012-01-18T14:40:00.000-08:00

Student-athletes at Wartburg College showed their volunteer spirit on Martin Luther King Day. Though there were many different service projects, the photos below came from a "Blankets of Love" outreach. The blankets go to young people in need. Wartburg's blankets will be going to Bremwood Lutheran Home in Waverly that has young people living there with a variety of issues (mental health, behavioral problems, etc.). The idea came out of a similar activity at the NCAA Regional Leadership Conference in November.

Luther Fall Sports Camp Video

2012-01-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

This post from Luther's SAAC Board, c/o senior Katie Etter:

"Last November, our SAAC group held a three-hour Fall All-Sports Clinic for children ages 4-8. Sixty kids from the surrounding community and over fifty student-athletes were involved in the event. The kids were taken from station to station by Luther College swimmers and then played a game or did a drill with team members from Luther’s basketball, soccer, football, volleyball, golf, tennis, baseball/softball, wrestling, and track teams. We included a snack break halfway through the clinic and each participant was given a water bottle to take home with them. While the kids (and parents) loved every second of the clinic, the Luther athletes had a blast as well giving back to their sports. The All-Sports Clinic provided a good opportunity for Norse athletes to develop their leadership and connect with local youth to maintain a cooperative spirit among the Luther and Decorah community."

Loras SAAC's "Toys for Tots" a Big Hit

2012-01-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

From Denise Udelhofen, Associate AD and SAAC Advisor at Loras:

"This past December, Loras’s SAAC sponsored “Toys for Tots” on three separate occasions. Toys for Tots is a national program sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps, which looks to give those less fortunate a Christmas present. The Loras community was asked to donate an unwrapped toy when coming to one of the three Loras basketball games. When dropping their toy off, they were given a free popcorn ticket to enjoy during the athletic event. Many SAAC members were involved with posting signs around campus, spreading the message through word of mouth, and volunteering time during lunch to reach out to Loras staff, faculty, and students through flyers. Overall, it was a very successful event and the Loras community did not disappoint when asked to help support the Dubuque community."

Wartburg SAAC and "Soles4Souls"

2011-12-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

Wartburg College and its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has been working with a high school senior who attended our Leadership Institute this summer and his project is Soles4Souls. The group has collected shoes at our Buzz Levick Basketball Tournament and the Dick Walker Wrestling Tournament.

Blood Drive at Loras a Success

2011-11-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

Loras’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee successfully coordinated its annual American Red Cross Blood Drive on November 10. The event took months to plan, with time being invested in setting up the event with American Red Cross, finding volunteers, and registering donators. The day ran smoothly with 55 people registered to donate and 45 pints of blood being collected. These results exceeded our goal of 41 pints. Loras athletes volunteered to work the event, with duties including setting up/taking down the event, registration, and giving beverages and snacks to the donators. With every donation saving three lives, the Loras community helped out those in need in a big way.

Loras Celebrates "Take a Kid to the Game Day"

2011-11-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

The Loras SAAC provided this post today:

"On October 22^nd, Loras’s SAAC hosted the 'Take a Kid to Game Day' football event. The afternoon included 50 children from the Dubuque Youth Football League attending the event along with various student-athletes who volunteered. Everyone was able to enjoy the Loras football team compete in a competitive game against Coe College. All children at the event were given a free admission ticket along with the opportunity of being honored during halftime. All the children were taken onto the football field with Loras student athletes as their team and coaches were announced over the loud speaker for all the spectators. After the game, everyone headed to the gym where Loras football players signed autographs for the children. Coach Mierkiewicz ended the day talking to the young players and their families about football, family and the importance of school. It was a great afternoon enjoyed by everyone who attended and volunteered!"

Coe's Sports Camp Day with Polk Elementary School Also a Hit!

2011-11-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

A post from Kelsey Jipp, women's basketball player and SAAC rep at Coe:

"This year Coe’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted its 4th annual Polk Elementary Sports Camp. Over 30 Coe athletes volunteered to help organize and run the camp and 20 Polk Elementary 3rd-5th grade students participated. Activities included dodgeball, racquetball, dancing, basketball, rock wall climbing and pumpkin painting. The kids are given the opportunity to meet college athletes and discover new interests they may not have had before. At the end of camp, they are provided lunch and awarded certificates and prizes. This is a great way for Coe athletes to get involved in the community and have an impact on younger students.

"The kids from Polk Elementary migrate to this event. Numerous kids are campers for the second and third time, and are so proud when they are recognized as previous campers! I enjoy helping with these sports camps because it is giving kids knowledge about being a student-athlete in college and I enjoy being a positive role model." - Amanda Hanson, Softball '12

BV's "Take a Kid to the Game Day" a Hit!

2011-11-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

This from Heather Noll, Buena Vista Student-Athlete Advisory Committee adviser and head volleyball coach.

"Members of Buena Vista's SAAC organization assisted with BVU's annual "Take a Kid to the Game Day" football event, which was held at Buena Vista University on Saturday, October 22, 2011. One hundred thirty-two kids through 8th grade were admitted FREE with a paid adult. Each child received a FREE bag of popcorn upon entry to game, a blue "We're #1" foam finger, and BVU pompoms. In addition, business owner Nick Schumacher (Blacksmith Enterprises) donated 100 BVU Football Game Day t-shirts for the first 100 kids in the gate! Kids also had their headshots taken so we could display them on the video board during halftime and at the end of game. Names were submitted for door prize drawings. Twenty-four names were drawn (prizes were a football magnet, a complimentary pass to football or basketball game and 1 FREE candy bar from BV concessions). All door prize winners were announced during the first half because the concessions stand closed after halftime. Buford, Buena Vista's mascot, was also down by the table to greet kids and was available for pictures."

Musical Chairs!

2011-10-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love this classic?

Coe Reports on Early-Year SAAC Activities

2011-10-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

This from Kelsey Jipp, Coe women's basketball student-athlete and SAAC rep:

-Our 'Blackout' events have become 'Whiteout' events this year. We sold Whiteout/Bleed Crimson Win Gold t-shirts the beginning of the year and have so far had Whiteouts at volleyball, cross country, women's tennis and tomorrow is men's and women's soccer. We have done contests at each event...I have a video that I will hopefully send you soon of our musical chairs contest at the volleyball whiteout.
-Our Dig Pink event was for breast cancer awareness at a volleyball game. The volleyball team put a lot into this event and we simply helped out. We sold Dig Pink t-shirts, gave out cotton candy and did breast cancer trivia with fans in between games so they could win prizes.
-We had athletes attend a local elementary event called the Arthur Elementary Walk-a-thon where athletes encouraged students and signed t-shirts
-We held a Faculty/Staff appreciation day last Saturday at our home football game. Faculty/staff were recognized at halftime, given free food and we raffled off a Spirit Bucket full of Coe gear. We had about 20 faculty recognized that day, many of whom had never been to a Coe football game before.

I have attached a pic of our football Whiteout from last Saturday. The halftime contest was Punk, Pass & Kick.

Luther SAAC Gets Year Off to Great Start

2011-10-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

This from Luther's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee:

Over 450 Luther College student-athletes attended this SAAC sponsored event on Sunday, September 4, 2011. The goal of the Fall Kick-off Picnic was to create community within Luther College Athletics. The student-athletes enjoyed food prepared by Luther College Norse coaches, and received a Norse spirited carabiner compliments of SAAC. Water balloon volleyball was an activity enjoyed by teams, as well as many chances to win door prizes donated by the Luther College Athletic teams. The Norse student-athletes had time to bond with their teammates and coaches, fellow Norse student-athletes, and coaches of other sports.

UD Blood Drive a Big Success

2011-10-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

The University of Dubuque SAAC hosted a blood drive this past Friday at the Chlapaty Wellness Center. "We exceeded our goal of 30 units which is the first time UD has ever met its goal! It was a great turnout," said UD SAAC Advisor and Head Volleyball Coach April Elsbernd. We encourage the other campuses to report their blood drive results as well!

Cornell SAAC Hosts Community Youth Day

2011-09-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

Apologies for not posting this back in the spring. We got this information from Ben Jacobs, Cornell College SAAC:

"Last weekend [May 2011] Cornell's SAAC hosted a middle school sports day. We had 50 kids participate and over 30 student-athletes. The event was for 5th to 8th grade students and each student was able to pick three sports and attend a 30 minute mini-camp focused on skills and small games. Afterwards we had a grill-out for everyone that participated. It was a huge success and we hope to do an event like this next spring as well."

Coe's Recent SAAC Activities

2011-04-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to keep you updated on some SAAC events we have had at Coe lately.

March 23rd- We had our annual Winter Awards Banquet where all winter athletes/teams were recognized for their accomplishments. Coaches sum up their seasons and each varsity letter winner is announced and given their letter award. Those honored included All-Conference, All-Academic and All-Americans performers.

March 26th- Polar Plunge at Pelo Lake for Special Olympics. Several athletes and Coe students participated. Each group that plunged raised money Coe raised about $500.

BV SAAC Hosts "Take a Kid to the Game"

2011-01-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

This post from Heather Noll, Head Volleyball Coach and SAAC Adviser at Buena Vista University:

"We had our 'Take a Kid to the Game Day' on Saturday (1.8.11) and it was a hit! We had around 102 kids come to the event! When they got here they got a free height chart, NCAA ruler, sport white board, pompom, a coupon for a free popcorn, and a tattoo! Then they could sign up to win door prizes, guess the how many gum balls were in a container, guess the half time score (both men's and women's), or sign up for the half time activities. During half time of the women's game, we had a classic game of "knockout" and for the men's we had a 35-second shootout (lay-up, free throw, three pointer). The winners received a candy bar and t-shirt, and all participants received a candy bar. It was a great day of basketball with all of the kids here!"

Luther Hits "Nothing But Net(s)"

2010-12-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

This post from Luther SAAC Adviser and men's soccer assistant coach Will Maddox:

Attached are some pictures from an event Luther College's LASO (Luther Athletes Serving Others) has put on for a couple years. LASO is service arm of our SAAC, and puts on various events and connects our athletes with local service opportunities throughout the year. This event benefits "Nothing But Nets," a UN-run organization, which supplies malaria nets for sleeping to populations susceptible to the disease. The event involves ping-pong, pickle ball, and badminton tournaments where two people pay $10 to enter a tournament and spend a day playing net sports to raise money for malaria nets for those all over the world in need. The link for the organization is:

http://www.nothingbutnets.net/

Coe Students Conduct Sports Camp for Local Elementary School

2010-12-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

Neglected to post this stuff we received from Coe in mid-November. These are photos of the SAAC-run sports camp for students from Polk Elementary School, near the Coe campus. Coe SAAC does a lot with this school. Thanks to Iowa Conference SAAC representative Kelsey Jipp for sending along the photos.

BV Hosts Faculty-Staff Appreciation Night

2010-12-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

Another interesting activity from the SAAC at Buena Vista:

"BVU SAAC hosted Faculty Staff Appreciation Night at our home women's and men's basketball games. Each faculty/staff member could sign up for door prizes, compete to guess the half time score of the women's game, compete to guess the half time score of the men's game, and sign up for a 3-point shoot off. Athletics also put on a gathering for faculty staff between games to mingle and have assorted treats. It was a great turnout and a way to build our relationships with our faculty/staff members across campus."

-- Heather Noll, SAAC Adviser, Buena Vista University

BV Conducts Alcohol Abuse Awareness Program

2010-12-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

This came recently from Heather Noll, head volleyball coach and SAAC adviser at Buena Vista:

"Attached are pictures from Alcohol Awareness Week at BV. Student services was in charge of the week, and we teamed up with them for parts of it. On Monday we brought a speaker in with the message, 'Courage to Care.' She talked about how she used to be an alcoholic and how to help friends that you might see going down that path. Then, on Tuesday, we had a home women's basketball game. We rounded up two tricycles and two pairs of beer goggles and had beer goggle relay races. Two teams of four raced their tricycles from center court to the free throw line, weaving through cones, hoping off their trike and taking took three shots at the hoop. They then rode back to center court to hand off to the next person. The point was to show how alcohol can really inhibit your ability to do things."

Simpson Football Reaches Out to Seniors

2010-11-18T12:57:00.001-08:00

Coe SAAC Shows Spirit on Homecoming Weekend

2010-10-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

More news from Coe's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The post was sent from Kelsey Jipp, women's basketball player and also one of two Coe reps to the Iowa Conference SAAC:

Hey Chuck,
Our Student Alumni Association started a new event called the 'Kohawk Walk' this year. It is held the week of homecoming every year to get student organizations and committees to show some school spirit. Basically, groups sign up for sidewalk squares to paint whatever they want on it. Our SAAC group signed up for it and decorated the square to represent SAAC, 'Bleed Crimson, Win Gold', and our Blackout theme for our game against Wartburg. I took a couple pics and thought you'd like to check it out. I'll show you one our basketball team did, too.

Coe SAAC Reaching Out to Kids

2010-10-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

This report from Coe SAAC member Sarah Waskow:

"Recently a group of Coe athletes went over to Arthur Elementary [School]. The kids were doing a walk-a-thon to raise money for their school. We went over to cheer them on as well as sign autographs. The kids loved it and we had a great time getting to interact with them. I have attached some pictures from the event. We thought they could be something important to get on the SAAC website." Well, Sarah is absolutely right about the importance part, and we say three cheers to those who were a part of this outreach. We are waiting to hear from the rest of you in IIAC SAAC-land, so get your activities to us for posting!!

A New Year!

2010-09-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

I look forward to meeting many of you on my visits to campus this coming year. You will be hearing, or have heard, about a Conference-wide blood drive that we're going to try and do over the course of the year. If you're selected as a Conference SAAC rep, we will have our annual meeting at Wartburg on November 14th. In the meantime, please keep me informed of stuff that you are doing as campus SAACs. We want to promote here and on our new website, which I hope you have seen. Click on the link below and enjoy this video interview with Hannah Baker, Wartburg '10, who is a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year and was Wartburg's SAAC President last year.
-- Chuck Yrigoyen, IIAC Commissioner

http://www.youtube.com/iowaconf#p/u/0/KFT8pCpcdYA

Luther Athletes Serving Others

2010-05-11T11:13:00.001-07:00

Terrific video summary of an athletes-driven service organization at Luther. Double-click in the video window to open it up for full view.

Coe Hosts Sports Camp for School Kids

2010-05-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at Coe College recently hosted its second Polk Elementary School Sports Camp. Coe also hosted the Polk kids back in October, and it was a great success. This is a free camp of three to four hours that includes lunch. "It has been really rewarding," said Coe SWA and SAAC adviser Randi Peterson. "We give them all lunch as well," she added. Approximately 90% of the kids at Polk Elementary are on a free lunch or reduced-cost lunch subsidy, so food AND FUN are important to the kids!

Wartburg Earns NCAA Award for S-A Leadership

2010-03-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

Wartburg College Director of Athletics Rick Willis announced Tuesday, March 30, that the athletic department has earned an NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Leadership Conference Recognition Award. The award is sponsored by the Division III governance staff, according to a release sent out by the NCAA.

According to the release, the purpose of the award is “to recognize institutions that have successfully completed action plans that impacted the collective good of the community; students, athletes, staff and citizens of the community.” After a review of the Action Plan Updates from the institutions attending the 2009 NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Leadership Conference in Chicago, Wartburg was selected as the second winner.

The governance staff pointed to the Kids Day N’ Knights program, co-developed by senior women’s track and field athlete Hannah Baker of Keota and senior baseball pitcher Billy Schmitt of Farley and supervised by head women’s soccer coach Sara Johnson, as a “wonderful example of how your student-athletes were successful in impacting the collective good of the community.”

NEW VIDEO POSTING

2010-03-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

The last one! A final video of the Leadership Conference still in the works.

NEW VIDEO POSTING

2010-03-30T10:30:00.001-07:00

Another one!

NEW VIDEO POSTING

2010-03-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here is the third PSA from the Student-Athlete Leadership Conference. Sorry for the delay ... the video needed to be converted for some reason.

NEW VIDEO POSTING

2010-02-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

Here is the second PSA from the Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.

NEW VIDEO POSTING

2010-02-16T13:04:00.003-08:00

This is one of two public service announcements created by Iowa Conference student-athletes at the recent Leadership Conference in Cedar Rapids. More on the event in a later blog posting!

NEW VIDEO POSTING

2010-01-27T13:30:00.000-08:00

NEW VIDEO POSTING

2010-01-27T13:28:00.001-08:00

NCAA Unveils New Identity Initative

2010-01-19T11:23:00.001-08:00

A major focus of last week's NCAA Convention was the unveiling of a new Division III Identity Plan. You can see the news release and the first video that was produced by clicking here. You might also want to talk about the Convention generally with a rep from your school who attended. The Iowa Conference list of attendees included Annamaria Formichella-Elsden (FAR) and Jan Travis (AD) from BV; Ed Willis (FAR) and Al Dorenkamp (AD) from Central; John Chandler (AD) from Coe; John Cochrane (AD) from Cornell; Dan Runkle (AD) from UD; Bob Quinn (AD) and Denise Udelhofen (SWA) from Loras; Rob Larson (FAR) from Luther; John Epperson (FAR) from Simpson; and Todd Reiher (FAR) from Wartburg.

Ya Done Good!

2010-01-07T09:46:00.001-08:00

The Conference office recently received a letter from Waypoint Services, the agency that was visited by the IIAC SAAC after its meeting in November. All nine schools came bearing gifts for Waypoint's holiday gift drive. One excerpt from the letter read, "Thank you for brightening the holidays for the families served by Waypoint with Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's donation of various gift cards, books, CD player, and sports cards. As we commence the New Year, hopes and dreams are plentiful and many women and children in need have been inspired through your generosity." You can see the full letter, by clicking here.

Loras SAAC Fall Activities Report

2009-12-17T07:39:00.000-08:00

The Loras SAAC has been a busy group this fall. Here are some of the activities from the last three months ... you can print out a nice flyer with this same information by clicking here.

* Take a Kid to the Game- November 16th & 17th
* Sold t-shirts at Homecoming to promote athletic department
* Attended Fall IIAC SAAC meeting-November 15th in Cedar Rapids
* SAAC bowling outing at Cherry Lanes
* Volunteer workers for NCAA soccer games
* Participated in Christmas Giving Tree Program
* Created “Game Day” T-shirts for home athletic events for Duhawk Nation Section
* Constructed an athletic information board in the Alumni Campus Center
* Contributed events to Stall Street Journal
* Created three committees within SAAC to get more involvement from individual members
* Worked with Student Senate Spirit Committee to raise school spirit on campus and at athletic events

In the works for the future:

* Student Athlete Recognition mass and retreat – Feb. 7th
* Update/develop website page
* Eight Student Athletes to attend Student Athlete Leadership Conference Feb. 5th-7th in Cedar Rapids
* Dodge Ball/Bags Tournament fundraiser for end of year awards
* Dewey Awards
* Further develop Support a Team-Different season sports are assigned a specific team to support
* Blood Drive – Fall 2010

If you have specific questions about any of these items, we encourage you to contact Loras SAAC members or Associate AD Denise Udelhofen.

NCAA SAAC Video Covers Convention and "Hot Topic"

2009-12-14T06:31:00.000-08:00

The NCAA Convention will take place January 13-16, 2010 in Atlanta. The staff has created a video that talks about some of the highlighted legislation that will be on the docket. You can access the video by clicking here. The two student-athlete hosts also talk about a "Hot Topic" that they are considering right now. All Iowa Conference SAACs are encouraged to take a look at this video and give feedback to your athletic administrators.

Conference SAAC Meeting Combines Business with Service

2009-11-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

The Iowa Conference SAAC met on Sunday, November 15th in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The gathering included 19 student-athletes and seven administrators, along with the IIAC Commissioner. The two-hour meeting reviewed proposed IIAC legislation that was on the docket for the FAR/AD meeting the following day; some of the proposals did solicit SAAC votes, the results of which then were passed on at the FAR/AD meeting. Among other agenda items covered were: (1) the possibility of a Conference-wide blood drive next academic year; (2) the upcoming IIAC Student-Athlete Leadership Conference in February; and (3) feedback on the Conference's electronic-media presence on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. All of those sites can be accessed from here. Each school's SAAC was encouraged to report to the Conference minutes of meetings, photos of activities and any other news of a promotional nature. Following the meeting, the group headed into downtown Cedar Rapids with holiday gifts that had been collected on campus. They were donated to Waypoint, a large social services agency that handles day care, a homeless shelter, domestic violence cases, etc. The group is pictured on the steps of Waypoint, and you can find out more about the organization through its website.

Wartburg Hosts Youth Clinic

2009-11-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

The Wartburg Student-Athlete Advisory Committee recently hosted a youth clinic on campus. Area youth received instruction and general game play with direct interaction with varsity athletes. This project first came to mind at last January's NCAA Regional Student-Athlete Leadership Conference in Chicago. During that 3-day event, each school was required to come up with an idea that it would take back to campus for consideration and, hopefully, implementation.

Some of What Makes the IIAC Great

2009-11-11T13:16:00.000-08:00