BENNINGTON, Vt. – A new academic and athletic calendar year at Southern Vermont College means a new chance for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to get student-athletes involved around campus and the local community in ways that their course work and athletic obligations would otherwise not have.

This year, the SVC SAAC has set up a challenge for the 12 teams on campus to compete against each other off of the various playing surfaces. The SVC Cup will be awarded in May to the team that accumulates the most points based on a scoring system designed by the SAAC. Other factors and events that will be included in the scoring system are teams’ grade point averages for the year, team attendance at select athletic contests, and participation in community service projects organized by the Committee.

The first chance for teams to get on the scoreboard took place Tuesday night when about 50 athletes representing different SVC teams gathered in the Hunter Hall residence building for a pumpkin carving contest, brandishing their artistic skills in the traditional Halloween custom.

“It was great being able to see a lot of the student-athletes participating in our first SAAC pumpkin carving event,” commented Lixsa Arlet Sandoval, a senior captain on the women’s soccer team from Stockton, California who studies Business Administration/Sports Management at SVC. “Overall, being able to see all the student-athletes having fun during a simple SAAC event really makes the student-athlete experience at SVC that much better.”

Based on judgment by the Southern Vermont Athletics staff and administration, the winner of the 2014 pumpkin carving contest was the SVC baseball team, narrowly defeating the product made by Sandoval and her teammates.

Future events the SAAC is underway in planning are a community food drive, a holiday toy drive, a red heel run, and staff-against-student competitions. Please continue to check svcathletics.com for information regarding these opportunities for the SVC student-athletes to get involved.

According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) website, “A student-athlete advisory committee is a committee made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and policies that affect student-athletes’ lives on NCAA member institution campuses.” All colleges and universities that are members of the NCAA are encouraged to have a SAAC on campus, with selected athletes representing their respective conferences at the annual national SAAC meeting.

 

The winning pumpkin, carved by SVC Baseball, as determined by SVC Athletics' staff and administration