UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – Five Cardinal student-athletes attended the NCAA National Career in Sports Forum, held June 7-10 in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the forum, the SVSU delegates were joined by other student-athletes from institutions across-the-country that span all three divisions of the NCAA membership.
Having the opportunity to attend the NCAA National Career in Sports Forum and represent Saginaw Valley State University, were:
| Name | Sport | Class | Hometown/High School |
| Brian Bott | Men's Track & Field | GR | Buckley, Mich./Kingsley HS |
| Sam
Breault |
Volleyball |
SR | Bad Axe, Mich./Bad Axe
HS |
| Devon
Eley |
Softball | SR | Centreville,
Mich./Centreville HS |
| Charley
Porter |
Women's Soccer | SR |
Midland, Mich./Midland HS |
| Kristen
Tomczyk |
Women's Soccer | SR | Lapeer, Mich./Lapeer East HS |
The SVSU student-athletes created a blog on their four-day experience at the conference. The following is part one of their journal:
Thursday, June 7
On day one, forum participants were divided up into eight color teams. The color teams offer student-athletes a safe environment in which they are encouraged to engage each other in open dialogue.
Each team consisted of 30-40 athletes and two administrators from different schools. For example, Sam Breault's team was Teal Team 6 and her facilitators were Amy Seng from Louisville and Jamil Northcutt from Ole Miss (University of Mississippi).
These 'color team sessions' took place two or three times per day. In these sessions, attendees found their DISC (dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness) behavior style, talked about how to effectively resolve conflict, what makes good/bad communicators, what their core values are, what kind of career matches up with their values, writing a five year career plan and networking.
DeNita Turner, President and CEO of Image Builders, Inc. spoke to participants about personal and professional conduct to finish out the day.
Friday, June 8
Day two started with a panel discussion with Chris Ragsdale (Commissioner - Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference), Jon Oliver (Executive Associate AD - University of Virginia), Kerry Kenny (Assistant Director of Compliance - Big Ten Conference), and Melody Cope (Associate Vice President for Athletics - Dowling College). They spoke to participants about the various working components in intercollegiate athletics as a whole at the different divisional levels.
The SVSU student-athletes were then engaged in a panel discussion on alternative careers in sports. Lindsay Armstutz (Director of Marketing and on-air presentation for FOX Sports West), Scott Imberman (Senior Human Resource Manager at EA Sports), Damone Jones (Director of Marketing at USA Football), and Gregory Pottorff, (Associate at Ice Miller, LLP) talked to conferences delegates on how they applied the skills gained during their time in college to the pursuit of careers inside and outside athletics.
Friday was capped off with another color team session where invitees were involved in further discussions on how to better themselves personally and professionally.
"The career in sports forum was an eye opening experience that I was very appreciative to be apart of," commented Kristen Tomczyk on her time spent in Indianapolis. "Not only did I gain valuable informaton, but I met some of the brightest athletes in the NCAA."
Check back on Wednesday for Part 2 of the NCAA National Career in Sports Forum blog.