NORFOLK, Va.—The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) held their spring meeting on April 1-2, 2016 at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Virginia.

This year’s theme was “Understanding the NCAA & Conference Structures and Your Role in it.”

Student-athletes from all 13 MEAC member institutions gathered to learn more about the NCAA, the MEAC and how their institutions work with both organizations.

On Friday, the student-athletes and advisors had a meet and greet to get to know each other.

Saturday kicked-off with an ice-breaker activity before the students heard from Quintin Wright, the Assistant Director of Academic and Membership Affairs with the NCAA.

Wright discussed SAAC’s role in the governance structure, what student-athletes can do to improve their school’s SAAC and the future of the National SAAC. He stressed the importance of knowing what SAAC can achieve at a local and national level.

“I want these student-athletes to know that they have a voice that needs to be heard,” said Wright. “It’s important because student-athletes are the catalyst in the world of collegiate athletics.”

After a break, the representatives put their new knowledge of the NCAA to work with a game of Jeopardy. MEAC SAAC Vice President Charmia Graham, of Savannah State, said that was one of her favorite activities.

“Jeopardy was fun. I learned a lot of committees and rules that I didn’t know existed during that game,” Graham said.

Following lunch, the student-athletes were put into three groups to represent the MEAC Delegate Assembly. The positions were: Athletic Director, Senior Woman Administrator, or Faculty Athletic Representative. They were given current topics to discuss, then eventually vote on, in a Mock Delegate Assembly.

The student-athletes were able to get a better understanding of the different roles in a Delegate Assembly. The representatives used the skills they learned during the mock assembly to vote in a financial literacy initiative for next year’s MEAC SAAC.

At the end of the conference, all of the SAAC representatives agreed that they were eager to share what they learned with their institution’s SAAC. David Hanner, a Savannah State football player, said he learned just how important SAAC is to his athletic program and to student-athletes.