Conference Carolinas hosted its first annual student-athlete advisory committee retreat recently to focus on community engagement and ways to improve the game environment at league schools.

The event was called “Outrageous and Contagious,” and Conference Carolinas Commissioner Alan Patterson said it lived up to its billing.

“The student-athletes’ enthusiasm to be active participants in creating respectful and enthusiastic game environments was exciting,” he said. “I’m confident that Conference Carolinas competition will continue to be a showcase for each of our member schools.”
More than 30 student-athletes attended the event and were joined by nearly a dozen other coaches and administrators from league institutions.
“Our student-athletes and administrators are so busy with their respective daily demands that it becomes very difficult to find time to engage in planning,” said Barton College Athletics Director Gary Hall. “The SAAC retreat helped everyone to think in terms of planning for their institution’s athletics program.”

Hall said it also served as an idea exchange for student-athletes and administrators alike. “The retreat also helped to confirm that in a league like Conference Carolinas, all of the member institutions benefit when we work together to make our athletics programs the best they can be,” Hall said.

LaToya Greene, Mount Olive’s compliance director and senior woman administrator said, “We were able to gain so much valuable information from other institutions on how to incorporate ‘outrageous and contagious’ ideas on our respective campuses. It seemed as if everyone came with a positive attitude and was open to the experience.”

Conference Carolinas members are Anderson (South Carolina), Barton, Belmont Abbey, Coker, Converse, Erskine, Lees-McRae, Limestone, Mount Olive, Pfeiffer, Queens (North Carolina) and St. Andrews Presbyterian.