Tag Archives: NCAA

NCAA Champions!

On August 30th 2014, I met Dave and that night he told me how he was going to win a national championship. He took my phone and put the NCAA DIII National Championships (April 24-26) in my phone calendar and I promised I’d be there…

Fast forward to January 2015 and I’m sitting at home bored out of my mind, wishing I was back in New York City. I had thought about booking trips to New York to see friends, interview at companies, and pack up my old apartment, but realized that I should just book a surprise visit for the NCAA weekend in April. Despite the fact that it is incredibly difficult to make the NCAA tournament, let alone win it ,in my mind, it was a win-win. I would get to see Dave, be back in the city and get a ton of volleyball in! So I booked my flight for April 23-28, which would later turn out to be a mere 48 hours after my flights for Formal. Truth be told, I wanted this weekend to be a surprise but Dave had an inkling that I’d show up so I told him.

There was electricity flowing through the air when I arrived in Hoboken on the first day of the tournament. Everybody was buzzing about the tournament and looking forward to the Ducks dominating their competition.Stevens faced off against Baruch and won in an easy three set match on Friday afternoon. I stayed for the following quarterfinal to watch the other team, while the boys “scouted” and took notes on their tendencies. On Saturday, the team took on a rambunctious SUNY New Paltz team (and crowd) in 5 sets and advanced to the national championship game against Springfield! I felt like I was holding my breath the entire match and was so relieved to see them pull of the win. Phebe and I woke up early on Sunday morning to make signs for the team (see below) and got the arena early to secure front row seats! I can’t even begin to describe the atmosphere – I felt like I was at a professional sporting event with the jam-packed bleachers and chants flowing back and forth between the opposing sides of the gym. The boys pulled off a three set win against the Springfield Pride – they made winning look so easy!

That weekend Dave was also announced as the 2014-2015 National Player of the Year and First Team All-American among many other academic and athletic accolades. Huge congratulations to Dave and the rest of his team on a fantastic year! I’m excited to see what comes next.

 

Heisman 2014

 

2014 marked my third year volunteering for Heisman Weekend. Though I can’t divulge much, what I can say is that I had an incredible time working with the Heisman Media staff, including my former boss at FOX Emily Parker and Heisman, Tim Henning.

A big congratulations to Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and the two finalists, Amari Cooper and Melvin Gordon. These three finalists, are not only incredible football players and all around athletes, but also class acts off the field. Best of luck to them in the future endeavors.

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The Heisman Media Team

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Emily and I welcoming guests to Heisman Presentation Dinner

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The Heisman Ladies

 

WE MADE IT!

WE MADE IT TO THE NCAA’S!  Today we found out that we got an at-large bid to the NCAA DIII Soccer tournament, one of 24 spots left. Six teams in our conference qualified, including: Chicago, Brandeis, Wash U, Emory and league champs, Carnegie Mellon. This is the first time in twelve years that NYU has made the tournament. The second in NYU Women’s Soccer history, and the first time that it has been done via “at-large” bid.

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I can’t put into words how an incredible of a feeling this is. Four years of blood, sweat, tears, broken bones, torn ligaments, bruises, and turf burns. I am so incredibly proud of all my teammates, past and present who have made this moment possible. This has not only been a personal goal of mine, but a program goal that was set four years ago and it is truly unreal to see how much everything has progressed in that time period.

I’m going to keep this short and sweet, because I’m so excited and there’s still a lot we have to do.We play Amherst this weekend at Nazareth College in Rochester at 1:30PM on Saturday.

You can read more information here!

The End of an Era

As I sit here on my last bus ride to Gaelic, I find it surprising that I’m not overwhelmed by a flood of emotions. It is, after all, my last collegiate soccer game, the last game of my career.

Man, that’s depressing to write.

Today begin like any other day –  I got up, got ready, met up with Phebe and headed to Coles. Four years of waking my tired body, and forcing myself to get out of bed. Four years of carefully evaluating pregame and practice meals. Four years of walking to and from second home, Coles. Four years of taping my body up, of icing, of stretching, and foam rolling. Four years of hopping in vans and buses just to get to our “home” fields. And after four years, it’s all coming to an abrupt halt.

It still hasn’t hit me yet. I’ve been reflecting on it all week but I’m still at a loss for words. How can I describe my four-year career in a single word? Ineffable – I don’t expect you to understand because it’s simply been indescribable in so many positive and negative ways.

Come December I won’t have mandatory workouts, or meetings or lifts or events to attend. I won’t have to pass fitness tests or complete three-minute planks. I won’t have a stringent schedule to follow all summer and winter and I most definitely won’t have the last three weeks of summer planned out down to the last minute.

So, what comes next?  Retirement? If we win or tie today,  we might get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament next week. If we lose, there is the chance of ECAC’s, which would be great and terrible at the same time. Making the NCAA tournament has been a goal of mine for the past four years. This has been a long time coming and I can only hope that we continue to perform to the best of our abilities.

I’ve collected a series  of shots over the past four years. Looking back its crazy to see how much has changed.

 

 

No Excuses: Coaching at the Collegiate Level

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            A lot has happened in the world of college athletics this past week. NCAA President, Mark Emmert, has been under fire from press regarding his dodgy past, former FGCU Men’s basketball coach Andy Endfield accepted a multi-million dollar, six year contract at USC, Kevin Ware received national attention for his brutal injury, but perhaps most newsworthy is the video that surfaced from Rutgers University showing former head basketball coach Mike Rice physically and verbally abusing his athletes.

            As a current NCAA student-athlete and aspiring collegiate coach, I could not believe my eyes when I watched the tape showing Rice throwing basketballs at player’s heads and using derogatory and homophobic language to “encourage” his players to work harder.  While coaching styles vary greatly – all the way from the passive recreational coaches of our youth to the most intense, undermining, chair throwing ones– there is no one style that has proven successful.  I’ve had my fair share of screaming coaches, who thought they could encourage a group of 16 year old girls by yelling at the top of their lungs, but perhaps my most influential coaches were the ones who actually treated me with respect, mentored me, and made the game fun, yet still competitive.

            This incident brings forth a number of questions with regard to coaching hires across the board in college athletics. While most coaches undergo basic training to ensure they understand the rules and regulations of their respective coaching division, there is a lack of coaching education in the United States, which unfortunately leads to cases like this. I do not recall in any of my classes or experiences, being taught the importance of belittling other people to push them the extra distance, nor do I recall ever being told that it was okay to abuse somebody physically. It just goes to show that reform within the NCAA is of the utmost importance at this point.

            On Friday it came out that Rutgers fired the athletic director Tim Pernetti, which may confuse some people. Although there are advocates for keeping the AD around, the athletic department knew about the abuse scandal because people had reported the behavior, similar to the Penn State Football (Sandusky Case). Ian Diatlo, a former student manager noted to the press that the Rutgers athletic administration “was really turning a blind eye to it.” It’s one thing to try to protect an athletic department, and another to protect an individual. The results will always be the same if you try to cover something up – the truth always has a way of coming out.

            The bottom line stands that no athlete should have to endure a coach that abuses him or her. Sports, for many, despite being über competitive at the Division I level, are a sanctuary, usually a place where athletes can escape the craziness outside the gym. Mike Rice ruined that for those young men. There are no excuses for Mike Rice’s behavior and the athletic department’s lack of action and in my opinion, they owe the school, the families of current and former players who trusted them, and the young men he coached a massive apology. While there is nothing Rice can say nor do to take back the horrible things he did, the only thing we can do is learn and protect future athletes from this horrific and shocking behavior.

NCAA and its Student-Athletes

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            In light of the recent, devastating injury that Louisville star, Kevin Ware, sustained in the elite eight game against Duke last week, I feel it is necessary to explore the repercussions of his injury and the role of the NCAA in his recovery and for injured athletes across the country. To fully comprehend the impact of this injury on his future, it’s critical to have an understanding of the way scholarships work within the NCAA. At the Division I level, athletes who earn scholarships are usually on a year-to-year basis, however the NCAA has allowed some multi-year scholarships to blue chip recruits. That being said, a scholarship can be increased, decreased, renewed, or even taken away contingent upon a student-athlete’s success both on the court and in the classroom, as evaluated by the coaching staff each year. In that regard, a season-ending injury sustained by a student-athlete in a revenue earning sport, such as basketball, at the Division I level, can potentially end scholarship, and even academic hopes for these college students.

            For years, controversy has swirled around the NCAA and its revenue making March Madness tournament, which this year has already generated over $1 billion dollars. Current and former student-athletes, NCAA Critics, and parents alike have questioned why the student-athletes who are generating this revenue, are not being monetarily compensated for their efforts?  The debate regarding paying student-athletes is a double-edged sword, however. While student-athletes may receive a “free” education per se and other perks, they do not receive workers compensation for injuries sustained while playing and if injured, sometimes have to bear the costs of their injuries, especially down the road. It is well-known, that receiving any other benefits outside of the scholarship is a direct NCAA violation and will result in major penalties. And while some may argue that paying student-athletes would wreck the sanctity that is amateur athletics, rather than paying them, it has been suggested the NCAA should offer them the same negotiation and labor rights provided to nearly every other employed American. NCAA President Mark Emmert notes on his welcome page in regards to pay for play,“As long as I’m president of the NCAA, we will not pay student-athletes to play sports. Compensation for students is just something I’m adamantly opposed to. We’re providing athletes with world-class educations and world-class opportunities. If they are one of the few that are going to move on to become a pro athlete, there’s no better place in the world to refine their skills as a student-athlete.”  Though he makes a valid point, he does not address the mounting topic surrounding injuries and star athletes in this business. It’s amazing to think that nothing is owed nor guaranteed (because the NCAA Catastrophic Insurance does not necessarily cover every injury) for injured student-athletes, who are bringing potential millions to these universities.

            According to its website, the NCAA was “Founded more than one hundred years ago as a way to protect student-athletes, the NCAA continues to implement that principle with increased emphasis on both athletics and academic excellence.” The question at hand now is how does the NCAA intend to protect its student athletes in their endeavors both athletically and academically, if they sustain a career ending injury? How do they expect students to pay for colleges that are upwards of $50,000 a year without a scholarship and no prospect of making any money? The solution is a grave one, but only time will tell if student-athletes are willing to take a stand against the NCAA to protect their rights.

A Compilation: Days Two through Four

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I cannot believe it’s over. The tables are back in their places, our bags are packed and all of us are back to our respective hometowns and colleges. It’s a bittersweet ending to such an incredible trip. It’s hard to believe that in just 96 short hours I met tons of incredible student-athletes, collegiate coaches and AD’s, conference leaders, and NCAA officials. But I think it’s even harder to believe that it’s really done (and that I stay dressed up the WHOLE time.)

The past few days have been more than I could have imagined. The people, the information, even just the warm Summer Indiana air made this experience magical. Truth be told, I could probably write a very long, detailed blog on the whole trip, but I don’t want to bore you, so here’s my top ten favorite things (in no particular order) from this year’s 2012 NCAA Career in Sports Forum.

  1. The Fellow Student-Athletes – As cliché as it sounds it’s true. Along with the future NFL and NBA players I had the pleasure of meeting I also met incredibly talented student-athletes who will be making strides in the future. A number of people offered great insight into the rest of my college years and the rest of my career as a sports fanatic wanting to work in this profession.

    All 300 of us

    All 300 of us

  2. The DiSC Assessment – Surprisingly enough I’m an “iD” in this behavioral assessment, which means I’m outgoing and a people person but like being in charge every so often – scarily true right? It was really a great tool for all of us and highly recommend everybody to take it to learn what sort of personality you have. By the end of the weekend, all of us were analyzing each other’s personality and making fun of it a bit, but hey it was incredibly useful and I’m thankful we were offered the chance to do it.

    CSF Gear

    CSF Gear

  3. Clint Bruce – This man epitomizes what every man should strive to be. A United States Naval Academy graduate who not only played in the NFL but was also a Seal who led some of our nation’s finest. He not only taught us to choose to be excellent, but also stressed to never make a decision without knowing the “why” to what you’re doing. My next blog post will be dedicated to his keynote speech.

    A Standing Ovation and Some tears for Clint Bruce

    A Standing Ovation and Some tears for Clint Bruce

  4. Discovering Downtown Indy – Every night I was in Indy, I had the chance to walk around and explore this capital city. I saw Colts Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Stadium, the Pacers Arena, the Convention Center and so much more – it’s definitely a sporty city. After walking around, I realized how much I take living in both San Diego and NYC for granted.
    Colts Stadium

    Colts Stadium

    Downtown Indy

    Downtown Indy

  5. NCAA Hall of Champions – I only to one day to find myself among the amazing young men and women plastered to the brick walls. We got the distinct opportunity to not only eat dinner but also explore the museum all to ourselves. It currently ranks number one in my favorite museums, closely followed by the Newseum in Washington, D.C.
    Hall of Champs

    Hall of Champs

    James, NYU Runner, and the XC Booth

    James, NYU Runner, and the XC Booth

    Loving Me Some WoPo

    Loving Me Some WoPo

  6. The Social Media Session taught by @NCAADana – Along with the insightful information that the NCAA has access to all of our social media, I learned a lot about how to network via Social Media and how to market yourself correctly to future employers. As a social media fiend, (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Linked-In, you name it) I really enjoy learning about the implications and importance of this rising phenomenon. It was also really cool to make a hash-tag live in the audience for the conference, #2012NCAACSF
    The Four NYU Reps Instagrammed

    The Four NYU Reps Instagrammed

     

  7. The Alternative Career in Sports Panel – During this panel, we got to listen to a few professionals working in the gaming, broadcasting, marketing, and law fields. It was very eye opening for me, seeing as I didn’t even realize that some of these fields existed and applied to sports. It was interesting to note how much of an impact that even the gaming industry had on intercollegiate athletics.

    With My Heisman Trophy, Pose And All

    With My Heisman Trophy, Pose And All

  8. The Color Group Meetings – As I wrote earlier, we were each divvied up into different groups of around 35 people. I found these sessions to be very informative, not only about intercollegiate athletics, but about myself as well. Going back and looking through my workbook, my notes demonstrate a need for me to work in an environment that is active, team-oriented and showcases my outgoing personality. In these sessions I also learned how to effectively communicate, something I’ve been working on both personally and on the field. This aspect of the conference was very useful, plus I met some quality people I will stay in touch with from my group.
    Red Team

    Red Team

    Annie and I, Someday I hope to be like her

    Annie and I, Someday I hope to be like her

  9. The Networking Tools – In a matter of four days, I did not expect a sudden change in any of my behaviors, but man, I sure do notice now how much my social skills have changed. I’m now more likely to start a conversation with a random stranger, and on the way home, as luck would have it, I began a conversation with an old NCAA swimmer from UNC Chapel Hill. He gave me a ton of advice on that short 55 minute flight and I greatly appreciate him spending the time talking to me, considering the fact that he was probably exhausted from the Bachelor’s Party in New Orleans he was flying from.

    Roomie, Former teammate and fellow Surf Soccer player

    Roomie, Former teammate and fellow Surf Soccer player

  10. The Inspiration – Looking back through my workbook, I have a number of inspirational quotes lining the margins of each page. You know me, I love quotes, so I throughly enjoyed each session filled with bits and pieces of motivation and advice. Here’s one: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”IMG_3450

I came to this conference thinking I’d come out of it with hundreds of contacts and a known career path, but it turns out that I’m even more at a loss. The thing I did find was that athletics is truly a passion of mine because it connects us all on such a deep level. Athletics are greater than all of us.

Hope all of my fellow NCAA CSF’ers got home quickly and safely!

Peace and Love

Day One: Complete

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The first day is done and I cannot emphasize how amazing it is to be here. The amount of people I’ve met is amazing and to hear everybody’s story is really quite interesting. I’ve met Polish twins, an Australian soccer player from Oregon State and even people from my own school who I didn’t even know before coming here. We’ve done so much, met so many people, and learned in depth about our behavior in just the first day, I can’t even imagine what’s in store the next couple of days.

After Sara’s and my shopping adventure, we headed back to the hotel  and checked in to our groups. We then headed to lunch with some other early arrivals and after returned to our room to get ready for our long day ahead. Usually when you’re at an event as exciting as this one, time tends to go fast, however, we both got ready so quickly that we ended up waiting around the last hour before the commencement of everything. Similar to most other student-athlete events that I’ve been to, we had to lay out the ground rules and many speakers emphasized the “time is now” for us to push ourselves, network, and learn about whether or not we should actually pursue a career in athletics. I knew from that moment, sitting along with the other eight people I had never met before, that this was going to be a great weekend.

Following the first few speakers, we were then split up into our color groups. The red group is certainly a wide variety of athletes, from all reaches of the United States, all with a unique story to tell. It’s pretty incredible what some of all the athletes around me have achieved – there’s actually one of the pitchers from the Oklahoma Sooners softball team, who was in the WCWS Championship. They unfortunately lost to ‘Bama and the pitcher took the soonest flight out of OKC, without sleep straight into the things. The rest of the student-athletes are incredible and I’m so honored to be with them, learning and admiring everything they have accomplished. It’s interesting to note, however, that I’m actually the youngest at the conference. I have met a lot of people, but none of them have been younger than a junior – most people are seniors or graduated already. I’m really enjoying asking them the keys to being successful at the next level and learning what makes them tick.

After what seemed like an eternity, we had dinner which was absolutely delicious and then listened to DeNita Turner, President and Founder of Image Builders. She explained to us that the first fifteen seconds that you meet anybody creates a lasting impact and can define your career. In addition, she gave us a number of tips on how to sell ourselves, including a thirty second spiel in the elevator. I really liked her stories and think that her tips will be useful, especially in all the elevators in NYC. Following her speech, we returned to our color groups and went over some points we had learned throughout the day. It was mostly just a recap of everything in less than thirty minutes. Maybe it’s just me, but the best part of the night came last. We ended with a student-athlete social, where I got to interact with everybody using the handy dandy skills I had just learned. It was beyond incredible to meet everybody and learn how they came to school. I met a lot of people from around the country, including some SoCal people I hope to keep in touch with. Overall it was just a terrific day, but I have to get to bed considering I’ll be up at 6 tomorrow to workout.

Looking so official and stiff - ya know?

Looking so official and stiff – ya know?

Howdy from Indy!

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Howdy y’all from the Hooiser state! I’m currently in the midsts of settling in and getting my bearings of Indianapolis, but other than that everything is great. Last time I left off, I was not too happy with my airplane situation, but things quickly shaped up! Fortunately for me, I sat next to a cute little Sheltie headed to Washington D.C. Much to my surprise, she was extremely calm the whole flight and didn’t get out of her bag! After I got off the plane in Denver, I found out that my club teammate, Sara, was on my flight and headed to the same conference. We ended up hanging out with each other and meeting two other student-athletes. Once we landed in Indy, the four of us jumped on a bus headed to our hotel downtown. We were pleasantly greeted by so many NCAA officials awaiting our arrival, and then were checked into the hotel. Funnily enough, Sara and I were roomed together which made things a lot less awkward. After we unpacked and found the gym – only a door down from our room, we set out to explore the city.

Flying over some Colorado Mountains

Flying over some Colorado Mountains

Waiting in Denver

Waiting in Denver

The Cute Lassie Dog Next to Me

The Cute Lassie Dog Next to Me

On our little walk around the city, we found the Capitol building, the Civil War Museum, the Mall (oh yeah!) and some other fun places. Downtown Indy is very quaint, especially compared to Manhattan – I don’t know if I could live in such a small town. Following our stroll, we had dinner at Champions, a little restaurant in the hotel with the Devils/Kings game on. Before we knew it, it was 10PM and we hopped into bed, falling asleep to Friends.

Exploring Downtown

Exploring Downtown

The next morning we woke up and first thing we did was head to the gym. Even though it was 8AM and many hours before everything was supposed to start, the gym was already filled with student-atheletes trying to get a workout in. I wonder how it’s going to be later tonight with all 300 of us trying to get a sweat on. Following a great interval set and stretching routine, we took showers, got dressed and headed down to breakfast. It was nice to see some more athletes hanging around the hotel and meet people outside of my own athletic department. Once we finished the incredible fruit spread, we set out for Lucas Oil Stadium, home to the Indianapolis Colts and the 2012 Super Bowl,  where the Giants won.  (Go Giants!) We soon realized that we had five hours before we had to be anywhere, so we walked around the Indianapolis Convention Center, where there was a Methodist Conference going on – who knew they had such a thing? Following our little stint in that huge building we found the mall and stumbled upon a cute little boutique where Sara and I got some cute shirts – don’t worry Mom and Dad, they were on sale! We finally turned to head back and check into the conference and got our polos and other cool stuff necessary for the forum. I got assigned to the Red Team and Sara got assigned to Orange, so I guess we’ll finally be split up.

Hanging with the Colts

Hanging with the Colts

NCAA Swag

NCAA Swag

Now I’m sitting in the lobby, watching the influx of student-athletes come in, bags in tow. It’s really cool to think that I’m part of a group looking to continue their career in athletics post-college and it’s really cool to actually meet real live college football players, but hey that’s what you get when you go to NYU! That’s it for now but I’ll be sure to update tonight after my first few sessions.

Jam of the Day: “We Are Young” by Fun feat. Janelle Monáe

Adiós San Diego, Hello Indy

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Good morning from the oh so comfy seats in Terminal One of San Diego International Airport. Today I’m headed on my first Summer adventure to the NCAA Career in Sports Forum, and I could not be even more excited, minus the super long flights. As with most adventures I embark on, there are bound to be a few bumps along the way, and I of course had to start this one out the same way. Whenever I fly by myself I more often than not fly American Airlines, which ensures that I’m one of the first to board with Priority Access. When I booked these flights to Indianapolis I was informed that I’d be flying Southwest, which is totally fine by me. Little did I know, however, that you need to check in online to secure your seat and boarding time. Southwest: 1, Meg: 0. By the time I found this out and checked in online, I was ecstatic to find out that I was last to board – woo hoo! (Please note my sarcasm right now) No worries though, I’m still having fun and promised myself I will check in exactly 24 hours before hand to ensure that I’m first on that plane home. As a very smart person once said, ” Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, Shame on me.”

It's all good in terminal one!

It’s all good in terminal one!

Anyways, sitting here in the terminal, I’ve been playing myself a great game of “People Watching”while  jamming out to music and blogging on my computer. It’s one of my favorite games to play, especially in NYC with friends, but an airport is just as fun. We all try and guess what people do for a living and what their “deal” is – it’s very fun, especially when you’re bored! There are some very interesting subjects in the boarding area, here are my top three so far:

  1. The thirty-something couple sitting across from me, making out with their hands all over each other. Headed to Sacramento; it’s interesting to note that they have no luggage with them, she has a ring, he doesn’t… Maybe he just proposed?
  2. The Mom with the four kids all under the age of ten. Each kid not only has a humongous oversized backpack, but also a matching pillow pet to match. I’m surprised World War III hasn’t broken out yet, but who knows maybe she’s bribing them with candy.
  3. The business man yelling loudly into his blackberry with his iPhone in the other hand, probably looking up sports scores from last night. I just want to say, Hey it’s 9 in the morning, can you take it down a notch, I’m still sleeping.

That’s it for now, time to board 🙂 Next up Denver, Colorado!

Jam of the Day: Airplanes by B.o.B feat. Haley Williams from Paramore