The Ithaca College Student-Athlete Advisory Council has selected their Executive Board for the 2022-23 Academic Year. Overseen by Associate Director of Athletics,
Erienne Roberts, and Head Field Hockey Coach,
Kaitlyn Wahila, the five student-athlete leaders (along with responsibilities) listed below were selected to be the face of Ithaca's SAAC for the upcoming year. These five rising leaders are tremendous ambassadors for Ithaca College and will without a doubt fulfill their duties to the highest standard in 2022-23.
Arla Davis, Senior, Field Hockey – Co-Chair
Allison Dell'Orto, Senior, Softball – Operations Chair
Jamie Rossig, Senior, Track and Field – Bomber Leads Co-Chair
Kiley Sullivan, Junior, Field Hockey – Bomber Leads Co-Chair
Warren Watson II, Senior, Football – Co-Chair
*Class year indicates status for 2022-23 academic year.
"Alongside Coach Wahila, I am ecstatic to announce this coming year's SAAC Executive Board. We've made a lot of changes with the pandemic and what we're able to do as a student-athlete governance structure. However, these individuals rose to the challenge. I cannot thank outgoing executive board members enough,
Victoria Sestito,
Julia Loffredo,
Dania Bogdanovic, and
Logan Ninos. They were excellent contributors to the leadership."
Under the previous executive board's leadership, the primary focus was mental health and wellness. Their efforts, specifically from outgoing Co-Chair
Victoria Sestito, led to bringing guest speaker Victoria Garrick to talk to SAAC and the student-athlete population about mental health and wellness. Sestito expresses, "Listening to Victoria Garrick share her story with our student-athletes was an incredible experience and I know it was a conversation everyone will remember for a long time. It was important to bring in a speaker who people already knew and were able to relate to. We received great feedback from our student-athletes and coaches after the event, so it was really rewarding for everyone involved."
Another highlight to the year was NCAA DIII week that led to the first Dodgeball Tournament and had 130 athletes sign up. It concluded with BomberTHON and student-athletes and teams raised $15,210.60 for the organization. The BomberTHON brought in total donations amounting to $31,220.22. "DIII Week was such a rewarding experience. I loved having the opportunity to give back to other athletes on campus and thank them for their commitment to Ithaca. This week also gave us the perfect chance to give back to a cause like BomberTHON that is so much bigger than ourselves," expressing incoming SAAC Co-Chair
Arla Davis.
Another spring SAAC initiative is the annual play day with The Greater Ithaca Activities Center known as GIAC Day. This event held on Thursday, April 14, brought over 40 students in the after-care program to join student-athletes for a day of sport, activity, and a tour of Ithaca College. The day was an exceptional community engagement event and exciting for everyone. "As intercollegiate athletics professionals and student-athletes we understand the importance of community engagement, we also understand the power that sport can have in a person's life. Sport has the ability to unify and mend communities and to make them stronger. Our partnership with GIAC is just a small way we hope to build and contribute to the community." Says Roberts.
"As we look ahead to the 2022-23 academic year, we are excited to welcome a newly appointed executive board and get to work on campus and in the Ithaca community. We look forward to assessing the needs of our student-athletes and the ways in which we can continue to be a voice for the student-athlete community here at IC. Having a presence in the Ithaca community is a priority for SAAC and we look forward to watching the executive board's vision come to life. The student-athletes at Ithaca are a special group and we can't wait to get to work." says Wahila.
The newly formulated executive board will be joined by incoming 2022-23 SAAC representatives from each team.
Incoming Bomber Leads Co-Chair,
Jamie Rossig expresses, "I am thrilled to join such a strong group of student-leaders on the SAAC Executive Board for the coming year. 2022-2023 will be a big year for SAAC in terms of increasing engagement with our members, campus community, and greater Ithaca community. I am excited about making changes in the organization as well as maintaining our already successful focus on student-athlete mental health and wellness, particularly by spearheading a student-athlete wellness fair."
Other SAAC Representatives installed for the 2022-23 academic year include:
