SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--Student-athlete leaders from all of the Pacific West Conference's 14 schools met last week at Dominican University for meetings, activities and community service.
The 17th annual PacWest SAAC Retreat brought together two dozen student-athletes for fellowship, fun, learning opportunities and good old fashioned hard work. Dominican University was this summer's host, and community service activities were held in the San Rafael area. SAAC is short for Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
"This year's SAAC retreat provided an amazing platform to collaborate with like-minded leaders from across the conference," said 2024-25 SAAC President Tucker Pellicci, a basketball player at Hawaii Pacific. "We exchanged ideas on how we can continue to enhance the student-athlete experience. The passion and dedication brought by everyone was truly inspiring, and I look forward to bringing these concepts back to my campus and PacWest SAAC."
The three days (Aug. 5-7) were packed with meetings and activities.
Day 1 - Welcome from the Dominican President Dr. Nicola Pitchford...meetings and campus updates...discussed ideas for 2024-25 as well as for SAAC Community Engagement awards...would like to recognize institutions and individual teams in the future. Engaged with SAAC advisors and Dominican administrators during professional development round table activity.
Day 2 - LinkedIn Presentation from Dominican's Courtney Budesa and Giulia Welch, learning to promote themselves to potential employers using LinkedIn...Participated in a service activity with
Marin County Parks...helped remove an invasive species of plant from
McInnis Park to help the Ridgeway Rail bird thrive...Engaged in a teambuilding/ recreational activity, paddling down the Petaluma River in tandem kayaks with their partners...They made fleece tie blankets for the
Linus Project , providing for kids that are ill, traumatized or in need...Lastly, they created a sportsmanship PSA to use for the 2024-25 year.
Day 3 - Made plans for the upcoming year, including setting meeting dates, communication strategies and electing the SAAC Executive Board. Added the new position of Professional Development Director to help promote our LinkedIn PacWest Conference Alumni group and further spotlight the PacWest student-athletes.
"The 2024 PacWest SAAC Retreat was an incredibly rewarding experience for everyone involved," said PacWest Associate Commissioner and Senior Woman Administrator Piper Brewster. "The student-athletes were able to fine tune their leadership skills and share ideas for the upcoming year. It's truly inspiring to see how dedicated our SAAC student-athletes are to both community engagement and elevating the student-athlete experience within the PacWest. I am extremely excited to continue working with them this year. Their hard work and intitiative is what continues to elevate the PacWest conference."
2024-25 SAAC Executive Board
President - Tucker Pellicci, Hawaii Pacific (men's basketball)
Vice President - Pablo Zubieta, Fresno Pacific (men's tennis)
Secretary - Tiffany Pope, Vanguard (softball)
Social Media Director - Selena Buttery, Chaminade (women's basketball / tennis)
Professional Development Director - Alexandria Mann, Biola (women's tennis).