Last week, junior Abigail Newkirk had the opportunity to serve as the student representative for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and the North Coast Athletic Conference at the NCAA convention in Anaheim, Calif.
“She has the chance to discuss important legislation affecting student-athletes across all levels,” said Amanda DeMoine, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee advisor. “The convention provides a networking opportunity and lets her give insights to all of the administrators in attendance. The National SAAC also meets at the convention, and she will be on the committee on women’s athletics, which she will work on throughout her tenure as a National SAAC representative.”
Newkirk got involved in SAAC at Bluffton as a freshman and eventually became its president. From there, DeMoine encouraged her to apply for a National DIII SAAC position. Although she was hesitant, Newkirk decided to apply, and less than a week later she was informed she was the National DIII SAAC Primary Member for the HCAC and NCAC.
Newkirk as the DIII SAAC representative. Photo provided by Abby Newkirk
“I was a little nervous just because I was now involved at the national level, but very interested as to what was in store for me next to develop more leadership skills,” Newkirk said.
At the national convention, Newkirk typically attended meetings or sessions from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., followed by receptions, sessions, celebrations or social mixers until about 9 p.m. They discussed legislation and issues related to DIII athletics.
“For DIII athletics, the National DIII SAAC has been working on three initiatives for the past year and will continue to implement ideas about mental health issues, sustainability and the partnership with Special Olympics,” Newkirk said.
DeMoine said she noticed Newkirk took an immediate leadership role upon joining SAAC and cites her “leadership and her take-charge attitude” as her biggest strengths.
“She never stops working, and never wants to stop striving to make everything around her better,” DeMoine said.
At the national level, Newkirk said she has most enjoyed the people she’s been able to meet with a shared interest in athletics. She said her biggest accomplishment at Bluffton has been organizing the first youth night at Bluffton on Nov. 17, where members from the athletic teams on campus had sport-specific activities set up for community youth to come play with the athletes.
“Seeing all the children running around Sommer Center and interacting with our college athletes made me feel really good about being able to put that event on for them,” Newkirk said.
Newkirk’s term with National DIII SAAC will continue for one year after her graduation. Although she’s graduating a semester early, she also has plans to continue growing SAAC at Bluffton.
“[I plan on] focusing on the National DIII SAAC working group efforts,” Newkirk said. “I want to talk more about sustainability, mental health and get more involved with Special Olympics in the future. I also want to engage more student-athletes and begin to hold more informational/resourceful meetings for them rather than just having meetings when we have an event or something to plan for.”
