Please allow me to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you as the Chair of the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for 2011. It truly is an honor to serve all of you in this role and I am humbled to have been entrusted with the responsibility. Although busy at times, serving as Chair is an amazing opportunity to lead a group that has a significant impact on the lives and careers of others and is dedicated to fulfilling the mission of the NCAA. The support of my fellow 30 Division I SAAC “co-chairs” and SAAC leaders at every campus and conference across the country is invaluable. All of the individuals involved with our mission work tirelessly and dedicate countless hours of their time to enhance the student-athlete experience. For that, I offer them my sincere appreciation.
I want to assure all of you that Division I SAAC is committed to staying true to our mission which is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity, protecting student-athlete well being, and fostering a positive student-athlete image.
To promote opportunity, we want to hear directly from you about what is going on at your campus and learn about any ideas you have to share with DI SAAC. Join our official Facebook group, One Division, One Voice, I am a NCAA Division I Student-Athlete, and follow us on Twitter @DivisionISAAC. You will also want to take advantage of the Division I SAAC website, www.nationalsaac.weebly.com. Here, you can find out much more information about who we are, how you can contact us, and ways to keep informed on continuing issues.
In order to protect student-athlete well being and foster a positive student-athlete image, Division I SAAC has frequent opportunities to speak with the membership and NCAA staff. When these opportunities arise, it is our responsibility to speak on behalf of all 140,000 Division I student-athletes. The only way we can truly serve as the voice of our peers, is to hear directly from all of you. I want to personally challenge each national, conference and campus SAAC member to stay engaged in current SAAC events and issues and reach out to the student-athletes in every sport on your campus. We all must be engaged and communicating with each other to be effective in this regard.
So let us move forward as One Division and One Voice to continue fulfilling the mission of Division I SAAC.
From the seat of the chair,
Scott Krapf
Chair, NCAA Division I National SAAC