Vote for Kristen!

So our intern (and Augusta State softball senior) Kristen saw that D2SA.org was running a contest where student-athletes had to create a short video showcasing their experience in Division II. This was her first attempt at creating a video like this, and she put together and edited all the footage. Not bad for her first time! Check it out and vote for Kristen’s video HERE. She can win an iTunes gift card for her efforts!

Featured: Jessica Bivins

GSW Senior guard Jessica Bivins

Jessica Bivins is a senior guard on the Georgia Southwestern State University women’s basketball team that just completed there most successful season to date. The Hurricanes advanced to the PBC tournament and after a quarterfinal loss to eventual NCAA Southeast Regional champs Lander, finished with a record of 18-9, 10-7 in the conference. Jessica averaged 11.6 points a game this year along with 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists a game. She also has been highly successful off the court, being selected to the PBC All-Academic Team twice and the Presidential Honor Roll twice, as well as being chosen to receive an NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women’s Enhancement Scholarship (one of only 26 recipients across the entire country and from all three NCAA divisions). Let’s get to know Jessica a bit better:

Why did you choose GSW?

Because when I came on my visit the team and coach were really welcoming. They laid everything on the table and I liked that the coach was straightforward with me. She said I could come and contribute and do big things. I also liked the campus because its not too big or too small.

What have you enjoyed most about your time as a Hurricane?

I enjoyed my teammates. We are really there for each other, on the court and academically. We push each other to be better. I also enjoyed how we have grown as a program. My senior year we really put the pedal to the metal. I just enjoy how we’ve grown and wish I could come back for one more year. The teammates are the best part.

Talk about this season, your senior year, and the best season ever for GSW women’s basketball.

Being my senior year I definitely came to practice each day knowing this was it. I came ready, encouraged my teammates and let them know what we could do. As a senior I tried to prepare our newcomers and set an example for them. I think the seniors, we did our job for the most part and even though in the end we couldn’t bring it back it was a good year. Hopefully I can end on a positive note academically as well and leave GSW with a positive legacy.

You’ve had your share of success off the court, being named to the PBC All-Academic team, the Presidential Honor Roll, etc. How do you balance everything?

Everybody teases me because I have a thousand to-do lists. I’m really organized and keep a daily planner, and I set goals for each day. For example if I want to egt some extra shots up at the gym I will make sure I get my school work done early so I can stay as late as I need to at the gym.I know in my mind that things just have to get done and it is not a possibility to just not do something. I’m not going to let myself do that.

You were also recently selected to receive an NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women Enhancement scholarship. What does this honor mean to you?

It means a lot. All the hard work, the studying the basketball practices have actually paid off. It’s the first scholarship for academics I have ever gotten, so it’s a big deal. I am really psyched about going to graduate school. It is what I want to do and this scholarship alleviates some of the financial pressure.

Who are your biggest influences?

Definitely my family. My mother. I’m the oldest so I kind of pave the way and want to set an example for my brother and my cousin. They are student-athletes as well and I want them to know it can be done because JB did it. My mom is big because I’ll call her all the time and she trusts and believes I have the inner power to make it through. I get that from her. She instills the confidence in me.

Also my academic advisor, Dr. Bosak. He’s definitely another big one. I can count on him for anything. He has been a big supporter of me, whether it’s with papers, scholarship applications, on weekends, anytime I can count on him. And my coaches, Coach Britsky and Coach Turman my on the court influences. They are key contributors to my success. Coach is always getting us to work hard and get buckets.

What are your future plans?

Physical therapy graduate programs are very competitive and the one I am looking at is Florida A&M’s. I am applying in May and it is a three year program. I want to work in sports and become a sports physical therapist. Hopefully I can work at a school or with a professional team, but if not I will work with the general population. Ultimately once I am established as a professional I’d like to own and run my own sports rehabilitation clinic.

2012 Women in Athletics Seminar

Over 100 female student-athletes from 16 schools and three conferences gathered in Augusta, Ga., on Wednesday for the fourth annual PBC Women in Athletics Seminar.  The event is designed to give female student-athletes who may have an interest in pursuing a career in athletics the opportunity to interact with professional women from a wide range of athletic careers.  The keynote address was given by Delise O’Meally, Director of Governance and International Affairs at the NCAA.

From left: Brinsley Thigpen, CEO, Augusta Sports Council; Jaclyn Donovan, Director of Athletics, Georgia Southwestern; Lauren Holtkamp, Basketball Official (WNBA, NBADL, NCAA DI & DII); Becky Burleigh, Head Soccer Coach, University of Florida

“This is just a tremendous event,” said PBC commissioner David R. Brunk. “We have grown this seminar every year and have our biggest turnout yet.  Our panelists have been outstanding; they are committed to sharing their experiences of being a woman in the field of intercollegiate athletics and educating the next generation of coaches and administrators and we are very grateful for their time.”

From left: Germaine McAuley, Director of Phys. Ed. and Athletics, Spelman College; Amanda Osburne, Director of Internal operations, South Atlantic Conference; Dina Neely, Area Manager, Musco Sports Lighting; Heather Ould, Director of Operations, Collegiate Consulting

The seminar began with a professional panel featuring University of Florida head women’s soccer coach Becky Burleigh; Georgia Southwestern athletic director Jaclyn Kaylor; Spelman College athletic director Germain McAuley; WNBA and NCAA women’s basketball official Lauren Holtkamp; Amanda Osburne, director of internal operations for the South Atlantic Conference; Dina Neely of Musco Lighting; Brinsley Thigpen, CEO of the Augusta Sports Council and Heather Ould, director of operations for Collegiate Consulting.

Keynote speaker Delise O'Meally addresses participants.

“It’s all about that initial first step and how to start,” said Osburne, making her first panel appearance. “Student-athletes just need to know where to begin if they want to pursue a career in this field.”

The Peach Belt Conference welcomed schools from both the South Atlantic Conference and Conference Carolinas.  Young Harris College, who will join the PBC in the fall of 2012, also brought several student-athletes. The turnout for the 2012 seminar was the largest since its inception four years ago.  Augusta State University has served as the host for each seminar.

 

NCAA Convention Recap

(Well, the Division II portion of Convention at least.)

The big news out of the Division II business session at the NCAA Convention was that all 16 proposals put in front of the Division II membership were passed, and by a large margin. These changes, though “slam dunks” in terms of delegate voting, could have a big impact on the division, particularly as it relates to recruiting.

As Dave Pickle noted in his story on NCAA.org, proposals 2012-11, 2012-12 and 2012-13,

“will provide a common start date for all in-person, telephonic and electronic forms of contact – June 15 before a prospect’s junior year of high school. In addition, there will be no restrictions on the number of contacts, other than in cases where contact is prohibited by Division II recruiting calendars.”

This means that prospective student-athletes (or PSAs for short) can be called, texted, or even Facebook messaged as much as a coach sees fit during the recruiting process, as long as it is after June 15th prior to the PSA’s junior year and within the appropriate recruiting dates.

What if a coach calls a PSA 50 times a day and floods their Facebook inbox with recruiting messages? Still legal (if greatly misguided and extremely creepy) under this new policy. So why does this make any sense? These proposals have been referred to as the “ease of burden” package, because doing away with the old rules (which were difficult to manage and required a lot of time and effort by compliance staff to monitor) would lessen the load on compliance administrators. In addition (as Pickle highlights),

“Proponents noted that the legislation will provide more opportunities for legitimate conversations between coaches and prospects, would put Division II in a better position to react to future technological changes and would bring the athletics recruiting process more in line with traditional students’ experiences.”

But what was the student-athlete perspective on the proposals?  For that I asked Hilary Cox, PBC National SAAC Representative, and here is what she had to say about their position:

“These three proposals create an extremely valuable communication line between the prospective student-athletes and coaches. Ultimately, we are now allowing the PSA to spend an additional year getting to know a coach and an additional year to make a more informed college decision. Another important issue National SAAC considered dealt with aligning athletic recruiting with academic recruiting of an institution. As institutions move their academic recruiting earlier and earlier during the PSA’s high school career, it is important for athletic departments to have the same opportunity. After much deliberation, National SAAC decided that this package would only move Division II forward.”

In addition to the recruiting legislation, the other piece of legislation that directly impacts student-athletes is the sickle-cell proposal (Proposal No. 2012-14), which will require new and existing student-athletes (and those trying out) to take a sickle cell solubility test unless they can provide documented results of a previous test or decline the test through a written release. Again, here is what Hilary and the National SAAC had to say:

“This piece of legislation is very important in ensuring the well being of all student-athletes, regardless of gender or race. It resulted from the death of student-athletes during an athletically related activity who did not know that they carried the trait. One student-athlete dying as a result of any medical condition is enough for us as an association to act on it. Now, all student-athletes must be tested for the trait each year prior to being cleared for athletic participation.”

Besides the actual legislative initiatives that were passed at the business session, other hot-button issues were discussed, including a review of academic requirements and championship selection criteria. The keynote speaker for Division II this year was astronaut and former DII women’s soccer student-athlete Sandy Magnus, who described her experience in Division II as the foundation for her career as an astronaut working on the final Space Shuttle mission.

Featured: Hilary Cox

Hilary Cox is a senior softball student-athlete at North Georgia. In addition to her role as a third baseman for the softball team, Hilary has also been involved extensively in Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at a variety of levels. Hilary manages to balance her extracurricular activities with her work in the classroom and on the diamond, and is a great example of a true student-athlete. With that in mind we decided to interview her to learn a bit more about her. Enjoy!

Why did you choose North Georgia?

I get this question all the time some you would think I would have my answer memorized, but it was the history of the softball program, the institution and the small town feel. The town is beautiful. And I wanted to win.

What have you enjoyed most about your time as a Saint?

Well the 4 years have been amazing. I would say all the opportunities that being a Saint has allowed for me. I’ve met a lot of great people and gotten to do a lot of great things.

In your own words, what is SAAC all about?

SAAC is all about the student-athlete. That’s what we do, we are fighting for the student-athlete experience.

Tell us more about your role with SAAC.

On campus I am the president of our SAAC so I oversee and facilitate the community engagement events we do and other activities like Make A Wish and canned food drives. For the conference I am in charge of distributing and collecting legislative grids, relaying info to conference reps about pending legislation and to try and motivate all our PBC schools about Make A Wish. For the national SAAC I am the voice of our conference, and bring the opinions, thoughts and concerns of our 13 schools for discussion at the national level.

What has your experience with National SAAC been like?

Oh my gosh it has been amazing! The best two years I could experience. From the people to the insight I’ve gained into the NCAA about how things work, to being involved at Convention and conference meetings. It was not what I expected, it was so much more than I expected.

What is your favorite thing about being on National SAAC?

Hands down it is having the relationships I have now with student-athletes from around the country.

You are a member of a very successful softball program at North Georgia. What are your goals for this upcoming season?

The biggest thing is to be a strong leader, leading by example and doing the right thing. The team goal is to win a National Championship. We have been so close and worked so hard, so every year that is our goal, but especially this year with our senior class. We would love to go out on top!

Hilary will lead the Saints softball team this year as they attempt to make another trip to the NCAA DII Softball World Series. Check back as the Peach Blog interviews more PBC student-athletes in the future!