Football | 11/10/2024 10:43:29 AM
NORFOLK, Va., Oct. 17, 2024 — The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) held its annual meeting October 5-6, at the Marriott Waterside Hotel.
Student-athletes from MEAC institutions gathered for the weekend to learn about professional development, NIL opportunities and to collaborate with peers on topics including campus leadership, voting awareness and community outreach efforts.
Commissioner Sonja Stills opened the meeting by welcoming all attendees, speakers, and advisors, and applauding the student-athletes for their pivotal roles on campus. She highlighted the importance of student-athletes voices being heard at the conference office and their respective institutions, underscoring their contribution to the ongoing success and growth of the MEAC.
Following Commissioner Stills’ welcome, was a meet and greet lunch that introduced the first presenter, Derrick Coles, Associate Director of NIL at the NCAA. Coles led a robust session on various NIL opportunities available to student-athletes covered key topics related to personal brand development and concluded with a Q&A session.
Teamworks representative Cheyna Smith followed giving SAAC members guidance on navigating Influencer, a content management and brand-building platform, utilizing NIL cheat codes, and analyzing post insights and social media trends.
The SAAC representatives concluded their afternoon with an outing to iFLY, followed by a SAAC dinner where student-athletes had the opportunity to network with peers.
Jaylin Drewry, a recent graduate of Norfolk State University, began day two by addressing the importance of voting with the student-athletes. Drewry stressed the need to stay informed about campaign proposals and encouraged student-athletes to “have their voices heard”on th eir respective campuses this year.
Maryland Eastern Shore’s Jonah Stepner stated, “Getting more students to vote starts with making sure they know what we are voting about. Having speakers like Mr. Drewry come in to discuss how we can impact our campuses and raise awareness about what’s happening during a voting year is huge for us, as we are the leaders of our campus.”
Indya Richards, the conference’s Compliance and Championships intern led an open discussion and Q&A session with student-athletes on MEAC championship expectations and updates. Prior to the championship discussion, the SAAC representatives from each institution came together for a friendly yet competitive community service team-building activity, where they decorated bras in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The meetings concluded on Sunday, with MEAC interns and staff presenting internship opportunities for both undergraduate and postgraduate student-athletes in the sports industry. The evening ended with a SAAC initiative-led dinner, during which athletes created video content for 2024-25 community service activation and received professional headshots. The dinner provided one final opportunity for student-athletes and staff to connect before returning to their respective institutions on Monday.
