Nicholas Russo spent his first moments at last week’s NCAA Convention standing in the back of the giant hall at the opening business session, thinking: “There are more people in this room than go to my college.”

Then, the La Roche soccer student-athlete, attending along with three other student observers from Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference member schools, jumped into a stream of delegates that flowed through the NCAA Honors reception to meetings with members of the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and then AMCC athletics directors.

They also attended the Division III issues forum and ultimately Division III’s business session, where they heard their host, AMCC Commissioner Donna Ledwin, support a proposal on the Convention floor to require head coaches to be certified in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).

They came away with a greater understanding of how the NCAA and Division III works.

“This has really given me an opportunity to see the thought that goes into every decision that’s made, and the progression, like Donna said, of ‘how a bill becomes a law,’ ” said Andy Iams, a Penn State-Behrend cross country and track student-athlete.

“It’s been interesting because, working in an athletics department, you see only the internal locus of what you’re dealing with,” said Rachael Wright, a graduate assistant in the athletics department at provisional member Franciscan who is interested in a career in sports marketing. “But then you come to the Convention and realize, you’re part of something so much bigger.”

For Frostburg State lacrosse student-athlete Davia Procida, a brief conversation among her league’s athletics directors – away from the big halls where speeches and voting occurred – made a lasting impression.

“I really respect my athletics director and I think he’s a great guy,” she said, “and hearing him say how much of a problem (complaints about officiating during games) is causing for sports and it looks so bad for our school – I will never open my mouth (to officials) on the lacrosse field ever again, after hearing that.”

That same meeting also may have cemented Russo’s career goals, as he quickly shook off the awe of the opening business session.

“My degree’s in marketing and management, but after going to the athletics director’s meeting, I think I want to be an athletics director,” he said, prompting knowing laughs from the other students.

“That whole meeting, I just wanted to raise my hand and voice my opinion,” he explained.

‘A big mystery’

Ledwin was looking for a way to put unallocated Division III conference-grant funds to use when, while she was registering for the Convention, she thought of inviting student-athletes to come along with her and attend the nearby NCAA gathering.

“This is my 20th year at the Convention, but the NCAA is a big mystery to student-athletes, and the Convention is, who knows what? So I thought it would be a great opportunity,” she said.

Ledwin hoped the foursome, including three members of the AMCC’s student-athlete advisory committee, would see “how the structure operates, in terms of the overall Division III governance structure, the committee structure, the conference structure.”

All came away especially impressed by the role that the Division III SAAC plays year-round in governance. They met with SAAC members over breakfast the morning after the opening business session, then watched the committee participate in Convention sessions.

“One thing that really struck me, talking with national SAAC members, is how when they give their opinions and recommendations in these business sessions, the whole room goes quiet,” said Iams, who chairs Penn State-Behrend’s SAAC and hopes to coach at the college level. “There’s so much respect for the student-athlete’s opinion, and I think that’s great.

“Walking into the opening business session, I look around and see all these older individuals – excuse my language, but there’s a lot of gray hair in the room – and I’m thinking to myself, how can these people really relate to us? Talking to the Division III SAAC, it’s, ‘our opinions matter’ – we’re equals to them. And that’s really inspiring.”

Ledwin made sure the students understood that the SAAC’s effectiveness stems not just from talk, but from doing a lot of homework before the Convention.

“I think, if all (the AMCC students) did was come and see that (business) session and leave, they’d just have seen the tip of the iceberg of how things happen here,” she said. “They’ve experienced how a committee works with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, how you take a position on something, how you work to express it, how you try to influence your peers to think the same way that you do – how to articulate an argument.”

Success on the floor

The four students saw the AMCC successfully co-sponsor a proposal to permit student-athletes in six sports to participate in one date of competition during the nontraditional segment without being charged a season of participation.

The proposal, also sponsored by the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference, won support before the Convention and then on the floor during the business session from the Division III Presidents Council. It easily won passage in a 431-18 vote (with six abstentions).

“It’s a very cool thing when your proposal gets passed – that’s your peers saying, we agree with you,” Ledwin told the students. “That’s a great affirmation. And I’ve been on both sides – we’ve lost and we’ve won, but not without a lot of work.”

Now, the students have seen both sides, moving from the competitive arena to the meeting rooms and hallways where member schools determine how Division III athletics will be governed. That’s exactly what Russo wanted from the experience.

“I’m on the field and I want to see what goes on off the field,” he said.

The group also departed with the knowledge that Ledwin hoped they would gain.

“I thought I was going to come here and just sit there, not understanding what’s going on and so confused,” said Procida, who wants to be a high school coach and administrator. “But I’ve really gotten to take in so much and really understand what happens, something not a lot of people get a chance to do. I’ve really learned a lot in the short amount of time I’ve been here.”