Westfield State representatives at the NCAA Leadership Forum in Providence, R.I., were Cassidy Noonan (far left, front row), Mike Molta (second from left, back row) and Matt Kelly (second from right, back row).
PROVIDENCE, RI – Hosting more than 350 student-athletes from the Northeast who were identified as leaders on their campuses, the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference was well represented as 16 student-athletes and administrators from the conference attended the annual NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum, Nov. 7-10, in Providence, R.I.
Those in attendance from the MASCAC ranged from student-athletes to graduate students, coaches and administrators. Westfield State’s representatives were Matt Kelly (graduate assistant), Cassidy Noonan (women’s track and field) and Mike Molta (baseball).
MASCAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) president Chris Gallagher was one of the student-athletes selected from Massachusetts Maritime Academy and he is excited to share what he learned back on campus.
“It was an amazing experience—the skills that I learned, coupled with the experiences I shared with other student-athletes, are something that I will carry with me long after I graduate,” Gallagher said. “It was a great honor to represent Massachusetts Maritime at this event, and I am looking forward to sharing those lessons with my fellow student-athletes at the Academy to help make our experience here even more positive.”
The Leadership Forum is one of the largest non-competitive gatherings of NCAA student-athletes representing their colleges and universities. The forum was designed for student-athletes to discuss key issues collectively and provide them with an opportunity to enhance personal awareness and leadership skills needed to positively impact their development at the campus and conference levels, as well as beyond the collegiate realm.
“The NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum is another type of educational setting that helps our student-athletes develop into more effective leaders and gets their thought process in motion which can help them on campus and even after they graduate,” said Curtis J. Hollomon, NCAA director of leadership development.
“It also allows them to communicate more on key topics of interest to them and to share best practices, while getting to know one another aside from competition. They then take ideas back to their Student-Athlete Advisory Committees and the results end up helping a wider range of student-athletes.”
The student-athletes heard from several speakers, including Chris Herren, former NBA player and founder of Hoop Dreams with Chris Herren and The Herren Project, about decision-making, and Rayna DuBose, a former basketball student-athlete, about facing adversity. Additionally, participants heard from keynote speaker Sam Davidson, president and co-founder of Cool People Care, about leadership lessons that he learned at a young age.
Throughout the Leadership Forum, representatives from NCAA member schools led small group discussions about a variety of topics: behavioral styles, branding, social media, decision-making, emotional intelligence and values. This helped the student-athletes become more effective leaders and motivators on their campuses.
In order to best facilitate these discussions, 39 school representatives attended a four-day training session at the NCAA national office in Indianapolis in September to learn curriculum that was implemented during these sessions. Those selected facilitators represented NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III colleges and universities, athletic conference offices and the NCAA national office.
For Kaylyn Smith of MCLA, who was one of the facilitators of the event for the NCAA, it was a very memorable experience.
“Being selected as a facilitator to represent the NCAA Division III and MCLA is something I’ll never forget, she said. “For four days, I was given the opportunity to witness growth, team work, camaraderie and servant leadership among every participant in Providence. To see our own conference representatives come in each and every day working together to give back to their peers and gain more insight on how they can be stronger after they leave is something you can’t really sum up in words. I look forward to seeing what’s in store for all our participants after they leave the forum. ”
To gain a better understanding of the NCAA association-wide and division-specific structures and committees, participants learned from peer representatives on the NCAA National Student-Athlete Advisory Committees as well as NCAA governance staff. During these sessions, participants learned about the NCAA legislative process and discuss current hot topics. To complement these sessions, a panel discussion was held on global leadership and how student-athletes transition from a leader on campus and into the world. Panelists included Bridget Belgiovine, director of athletics and chair of physical education, recreation and athletics at Wellesley College; Clyde Doughty Jr., director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation at the New York Institute of Technology; and Amy Huchthausen, America East conference commissioner. Participants also completed team-building activities in order to collect supplies for a service project to benefit Providence’s St. Mary’s Home for Children.
Westfield State athletics graduate assistant Matt Kelly, who worked with Smith throughout the event, felt the entire weekend showed him the qualities he has to be a better leader, and how he can use that in his everyday role at Westfield State.
“The leadership forum really allowed me to reflect and bring to light my leadership style, values and qualities, which will allow me to better serve the people I work with,” Kelly said. “The whole idea of ‘servant leadership’ was a key concept throughout the conference where the idea of empowering others to lead as well as putting the needs of others ahead of your own.”
