LONG BEACH, California -- The lives of student-athletes have changed much in the 10 years since the CHAMPS/Life Skills program was born.

In 1994, a student-athlete getting ready for a long road trip would spend hours recording songs off the radio onto a cassette tape to use in their portable tape player. In 2004, student-athletes spend a few minutes downloading music from the Internet onto CDs, which they can play from portable laptop computers.

In 1994, student-athletes had to walk across campus to hand in term papers before leaving for games. In 2004, student-athletes can e-mail professors these papers from the road.

In 1994, the NCAA sponsored 79 national championships. In 2004, that number has grown to 88.

And in 1994, there were 46 CHAMPS/Life Skills programs on college campuses. In 2004, there are more than 470.

More than 200 CHAMPS/Life Skills coordinators gathered February 7-10 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the program. Dubbed, "Hang 10: Riding the Waves for a Decade," the Continuing Education Conference provided coordinators with a chance to network with colleagues, learn about programs being conducted on other campuses and discuss issues of interest to those responsible for bringing the most relevant and informative programs for student-athletes to their institutions.

Karin Lee, from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, has been to the continuing education conference about six times and said she enjoys coming back each year to learn more and grow professionally.

"The great networking opportunities, the colleagues that I don't see except once a year, the sharing of ideas," Lee cited as her reasons for returning to the conference year after year. "Because even people who have been doing it less than I have still have great ideas and so I just like to come and see what schools are doing, what we can do better. That's the reason I come back."

Lee called this year's conference one of the most productive she's attended.

"It does rejuvenate me," she said. " (It) gets me excited to go back, for instance, and work with our student-athlete advisory board, give them some ideas, so we can do a better job."

Looking back

There's a proverb that says to move forward you must first know where you've been, and this year's conference gave attendees a chance to learn more about how the CHAMPS/Life Skills program was born. Betty Norrie, former NCAA Foundation program coordinator, and Dutch Baughman, executive director of the Division I-A Athletics Directors Association, both of whom were instrumental in making CHAMPS/Life Skills a reality, relived for the Life Skills coordinators the beginnings of the program.

Norrie, who was hired by the Foundation in 1990, recalled the three separate task forces that designed the program -- a daunting task, especially before the regular use of e-mail and the Internet. When they were done, she said, the resources material for schools starting the program weighed about 100 pounds.

But, she said, it was those committees that came up with the idea of the five areas of commitment -- to academic excellence, athletics excellence, personal development, career development and service -- that still exist today.

"While it's changed somewhat, and the outline has been greatly simplified, which was needed, the program still looks very much like the original outline," Norrie said, noting the hundreds of entities involved in getting this program up and running.

Baughman also recalled the beginnings of the program, which was developed in conjunction with his association. His group continues to run a separate program, known as CHAMPS, which recognizes the best programs and coordinators in the country.

Many campuses already had their own versions of CHAMPS when the program was developed, he said, but it was gratifying to see the program become a national effort.

"A lot of schools had outstanding programs, but there was no effort at that time to coordinate all of that on a national level," he said. "It's hard for me to explain how gratifying it is to see how this program has developed thanks to the hard work of so many people."

Celebrating a birthday

Between all the work that took place at this year's conference, both at the orientation session for new coordinators and during the conference itself, attendees also took some time to celebrate the program's milestone.

There was a Hawaiian-themed party, completed with a birthday cake, games and prizes, as well as other festivities between the team sessions, speaker breakout sessions, speaker showcase and other events.

Each attendee was placed on one of six teams -- the stingrays, sharks, seahorses, whales, dolphins and jellyfish. The teams allowed for discussion in smaller groups and each created a project that was presented on the last morning of the conference. The projects dealt with issues that Life Skills coordinators face each day, such as helping student-athletes face life after sports, stress management and good sportsmanship.

In addition, coordinators presented breakout sessions on topics such as hazing, using technology to enhance Life Skills programs, academic choices and challenges, and fresh ideas for coordinators.

For the second year, the conference also included a speaker showcase, which gave coordinators a glimpse into $30,000 worth of presentations they can bring to their campuses.

"Coordinators can come and test drive speakers, without risking their funds or without risking time and effort to bring someone to campus who may not be a good fit with their particular institution," said Becky Ahlgren, NCAA associate director of education outreach.

Attendees, both new and returning, said the conference was a success.

"It's outstanding as usual," said Phil Racicot from Duquesne University, who has attended five conferences. "It certainly helps you make sure you're keeping current with what's going on in the field, and obviously it's a chance to see the people, be with the people who do the same job.

"One of the great things about our profession is we don't compete with each other," he said. "The people that come to this conference aren't coaches, so we're all sharing ideas and taking different parts of other programs and sort of tweaking them and making them fit on our campus."

Inspiration

Carrie Drake and Ed Pasque from Campbell University said this year's conference was their first and that it was a worthwhile experience. Both have many different jobs on their campus other than CHAMPS/Life Skills, but they said the conference helped energize them.

"Being here makes me want to get recommitted to the Life Skills section because it's important and it deserves equal treatment," said Pasque. "It deserves a little more of our time and more of our commitment than it's been getting."

Between meetings and networking, conference attendees enjoyed two inspirational speakers: former collegiate and professional basketball player and author Mariah Burton Nelson, and Grammy winner Bill Withers.

Nelson encouraged coordinators to think of themselves as athletes, no matter what sort of activities they were involved in.

"You don't have to be a professional or Olympian or have won a national championship in order to claim the word athlete," she said. "I guarantee that if you think of yourself as an athlete, it will change the way you walk, the way you work and the decisions you make about leadership, teamwork and success."

Nelson, using humorous and inspiring stories from her own life, talked about the five questions of the leadership game. The object, she told coordinators, is to use these questions to evaluate your life and help you achieve your goals and the goals of the student-athletes you help.

The questions are: Are you willing to compete, what's your goal and game plan, who's on your team, what is your body telling you, and how do you respond to disappointment and defeat? By asking those questions and taking an athletics approach to life, coordinators can achieve their goals and help their student-athletes feel outstanding on the field and in life, she said.

Nelson also sang a song in honor of all that the Life Skills coordinators do.

"Student-athlete at your school are smiling, people who were hurting are feeling good now, student who were losing are high-fiving and all of this is due to you," she sang to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." "You like to teach the students to be smart about food, sex and drugs, teach the students to take care of their own bodies, teach the students to be leaders, not flunkies and thugs -- that's why we appreciate you."

Withers, perhaps best known for his hit song, "Lean on Me," also inspired the audience by talking about not using excuses to keep from achieving goals. Withers, from a small town in West Virginia, said he grew up suffering from asthma and a stutter, and no one would have predicted great things from him. But rather than listening to others' opinions, he went on to achieve greatness in his profession. Life Skills coordinators, he said, also help students reach their full potential, both on and off the field.

"Every former student-athlete that I asked what benefited them the most in school mentioned a mentor or a counselor who guided them and encouraged them. Everyone I asked what they would have liked to have had available to them that was not, said someone to have helped them better understand the value of the student part of being a student-athlete," he said. "You guys are needed and valuable."

Looking ahead

As attendees prepared to head back to the campuses afterward, all were looking forward to putting what they had learned to good use.

"It was absolutely amazing," said Verna Mayers from Benedict College. "Before I came I wasn't really sure what the whole broad aspect of CHAMPS included. We get more information and we meet people who have been doing it for a whole lot longer than we have, get their ideas, learn about some of their struggles," Mayers said. "That's really good as well, just to know what people are going through as they're running the program."

Ahlgren summed up the conference as a success and said it was a chance to look back at all that's been accomplished, as well as look ahead.

"Being 10 is exciting," she said. "It's a good opportunity to look back. But now as we enter adolescence and our teens, I think we're in for some changes. We're getting stronger, our membership is growing...there's still a lot we can do."