WHAT IS SAAC?

A student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) is a committee made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and polices that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses.

An association-wide SAAC was adopted at the 1989 NCAA Convention and was formed primarily to review and offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation that affected student-athlete welfare.

DIVISION III SAAC MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity for all student-athletes; protecting student-athlete welfare; and fostering a positive student-athlete image, while maintaining the tenets of the Division III philosophy.

SAAC AT A GLANCE:

• Generate a student-athlete voice within the NCAA structure
• Solicit student-athlete responses to proposed NCAA legislation
• Recommend potential NCAA legislation
• Review, react and comment to the governance structure on legislation, activities and subjects of interest
• Actively participate in the administrative process of athletics programs and the NCAA
• Promote a positive student-athlete image
• Disseminate information to team members
• Build a sense of community involving all team and conference institutions

PAST SOUTHWESTERN SAAC PROJECTS

• Pirates on the Playground at local Elementary schools
• “Helping Hooks” for on-campus community
• Sponsor of Canned Food Drive for the Caring Place in Georgetown
• Donations to the Eagle Locker for homeless students at Georgetown High School
• National Student-Athlete Day
• Co-Sponsor of Friday Night Live events with Campus Activities

 SAAC FALL UPDATE

The fall 2009 semester has been a busy one for the Southwestern Student Athlete Advisory Committee. In addition to helping start the Pirate Crew and continuing our team buddy program were each sport does something special for another team and attends their games, one of the activities we are really proud of is our involvement with the Eagle Locker at Georgetown High School. One of our student-athletes who completed her student teaching for her education degree became aware of the Eagle Locker and encouraged SAAC and all of our student-athletes to become involved.

The Eagle Locker is a project designed by student-athletes at Georgetown High School in which resources are supplied for homeless youth in the school district. Clothing, food, personal items, and school supplies are made available free of charge to homeless youth in need. SAAC donated over 3 boxes of jars of peanut butter, jelly, and small sized toiletry items such as shampoo, soap and toothpaste.

We felt that the Eagle Locker was an initiative the SAAC wanted to support so that we could help bring awareness of this issue to the Southwestern community. With nearly one in three Georgetown High students being classified as economically disadvantaged; about 150 of the school's 2,228 students are homeless. You can learn more about the Eagle Locker at www.eaglelocker.org

During the upcoming spring semester the SAAC will co-sponsor a Friday Night Live event with Campus Activities and this is always one of the most exciting events of the year. We also hope to hold a cookout for all student-athletes to celebrate our accomplishments this year!

Facts about Georgetown and Homelessness:

• 45% of students in GISD qualify for free or reduced lunch.
• There are 50,000appx. People in Georgetown.
• In America we discard ninety billion lbs of food a year. This isn’t the scraps we push into the trash can. Often crops are plowed into ground to keep food prices stable.

Hunger in Williamson County:

• Capital Area food bank gives sixteen million lbs. of food a year.
• The fastest growing homeless population in Williamson County and the United States is single moms.
• Average age of a homeless person is eight years old.