Paralympian and Women’s Sports Foundation past president Aimee Mullins addressed a crowd of more than 200 coaches, administrators and senior female student-athletes at the eighth annual East Coast Conference Senior Female Athlete Brunch February 8 at the New York Institute of Technology.

Established in 2001 by the conference’s Senior Woman Administrators Council, the brunch is held in conjunction with National Girls and Women in Sports Day and highlights the strides women have made in sports. Previous speakers include Dot Richardson, Judy Sweet and Ann Liguori.

Mullins spoke to the ECC’s mission of promoting the total person and stressed the importance of character. Through her humorous narratives of how she faced and overcame adversity, Mullins displayed the value of believing in oneself as well as having an “I can do it” mentality. Quoting Henry Ford by stating, “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right,”  she challenged the audience to dream big and let nothing get in the way of achieving the most out of life.

“Aimee shared her stories and told us that nothing is impossible,” said Barbara Puszkiewicz, senior volleyball player and rower at Dowling. “She explained that we are the biggest obstacle in attaining our dreams, and if we believe that we can overcome anything, then we will. In the end, it is our life, our strength and our will to succeed.”  

Lenore Walsh, senior associate athletics director at New York Institute of Technology and ECC SWA chair, said Mullins prompted the student-athletes “to keep re-evaluating their goals and never settle for less then they expect of themselves. This is what graduating seniors needed to hear since they are moving on to the next phase of their lives.”  

In addition to the keynote address by Mullins, senior female student-athletes from the ECC’s 10 institutions were recognized for their accomplishments. Awards were given for four-year participation, multisport participation and highest grade-point average at each institution. Mariel Andersson of C.W. Post received the GPA award as she accumulated a 3.9 GPA, which was the highest of all the graduating female senior student-athletes.

-          Courtesy Melissa Perry of the East Coast Conference.