BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College junior Brian Boland, captain and starting goalie for the men's soccer team and president of Moravian's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, attended the 2015 NCAA Convention outside of Washington, D.C. from January 14-17.
Boland was part of the Landmark Conference SAAC group that participated in the meetings at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The group also spent time working with the SAAC members from the Centennial Conference and the NCAA Division III National SAAC group.
"My overall impression of the convention was that it was amazing to me how much goes behind what puts all of us on the field," commented Boland. "I was also surprised at the amount of power the student-athlete voice carried."
After arriving in Maryland last Wednesday, Boland and the Landmark SAAC members participated in a Special Olympics clinic at the hotel. NCAA President Mark Emmert also stopped by the event and spoke to the Special Olympic athletes and the SAAC members.
"We did a relay race and a bocce tournament with Special Olympians as well as the NCAA and Centennial Conference SAAC groups, and it was amazing to be able to meet some amazing Special Olympians," Boland stated.
Thursday's agenda saw Boland having the opportunity to choose between a number of educational sessions in both the morning and afternoon. The topics ranged from crisis communication, well-being and mental health, leadership and communication skills and fundraising.
"Most of the sessions I attended were geared towards leadership and communication techniques, and they were awesome and very informative," Boland said.
Thursday's schedule was broken up with the NCAA Keynote Luncheon. Emmert started off the luncheon before bringing new NCAA Executive Vice-President of Regulatory Affairs Oliver Luck to the stage. Luck would conduct an informative discussion with the leaders of the NCAA Division I, II and III SAAC groups.
"The keynote luncheon was a pretty cool thing to be a part of and was a great way to meet a lot of NCAA representatives," explained Boland.
The first full day ended with the NCAA Opening Business Meeting and a reception for all of the convention attendees. The group also had a chance to meet with Dan Dutcher, the NCAA Vice-President for NCAA Division III.
Friday would begin with a breakfast for all of the delegates before Boland attended the NCAA Division III Issues Forum. After a lunch with the members of the NCAA Division III SAAC group, Boland and the rest of the Landmark SAAC members spent the afternoon attending the Landmark Conference meetings with the Presidents, Athletic Directors and Faculty Athletic Representatives of the conference including President Dr. Bryan L. Grigsby '90, Director of Athletics Scot Dapp and FAR Dr. Bob Brill from Moravian. Friday concluded with the NCAA Honors Celebration.
Before heading back to Bethlehem last Saturday afternoon, Boland attended the NCAA Division III Business Session to watch as the division voted on 14 proposals that had been brought to the membership.
"My favorite part was the voting session and budget meetings," stated Boland.
The NCAA had over 460,000 student-athletes competing in 89 championship sports as well as several emerging sports but less than 200 were able to attend the NCAA Convention.
"It was an amazing experience, and I hope to go back there one day," finished Boland.
Click here to view a photo gallery from the NCAA Convention.
