BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior field hockey defender Emily Marley and junior men's soccer goalie Brian Boland are doing more at Moravian College this year than playing and serving as team captains for their respective sports and working towards graduation. Both are members of the Greyhounds' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee with Marley serving as secretary this year and Boland running the group as its president, and the duo is also serving on the Landmark Conference SAAC as well.
Moravian's SAAC is very active throughout the year with an annual kickoff event in August to welcome all of the student-athletes back to campus, collecting gifts and money to help support Turning Point, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, at Christmas time each year, fundraisers throughout the year, a spring event to honor the student-athletes and a Special Olympics basketball tournament.
The group also helps with Moravian's annual Sophomore Athlete Leadership event and is looking at ways to increase attendance at the Greyhounds' home events in 2014-15 including a t-shirt design that will be available to the student body with the slogan "Release the Hounds" as SAAC looks to promote game days.
"I wanted to join SAAC when I came to Moravian because I wanted to become more involved with my school and to help out my community through volunteering my time outside of sports and helping those that are in need," stated Marley.
"I wanted to be a leader in SAAC because I want to gain experience with being in charge of an organization and helping to make SAAC a more prominent group on campus," Marley continued. "I wanted to help to bring all of the sports teams together and help them make changes that benefit all teams.
Being part of the Landmark SAAC is also an opportunity for the duo to learn more about the student-athletes on the other campuses in the conference.
"It's great to hear what other schools are doing in their communities," stated Boland. "In turn, it gives us some fresh ideas to try at Moravian."
Boland will get a chance to learn even more in January 2015 when he is part of a group from the Landmark Conference SAAC that will attend the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C.
"It is very important to me to be a part of the Landmark SAAC because I have the ability to work and make changes that not only benefit our school, but also all of the other schools in our conference," explained Marley. It is also really nice to give and receive feedback from the other members of the Landmark SAAC so that we can each bring that feedback back to our schools and use it to benefit our sports teams and Moravian."
SAAC has helped the pair in their leadership roles with their teams as well.
"Being a member of SAAC assists with me being a captain because it means that I always have the support of the members of SAAC to help me deal with any major problems that my team is having, if I cannot deal with them on my own," commented Marley. "Also, being a leader in SAAC has helped me to be more confident in myself and handle issues that my team may have."
"SAAC has taught me how to be positive when facing dilemmas with my teammates and it has also taught me public speaking and connection building that I use as a captain as well," Boland said.
The duo also sees the benefits of SAAC helping them out later in life after they have graduated.
"SAAC will help me after graduation by making me more organized and helping me learn how to juggle multiple things at one time," Marley said.
"This experience will benefit me because it has shown me how to make connections and teach leadership to others," Boland finished.
