SUWANEE, Ga. – The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference hosted its inaugural Mental Health Symposium on Monday, July 15-16, in Dallas, Texas. Photo Album
Made possible by the NCAA Division III Strategic Initiatives Grant, the symposium was open to student-athletes, coaches and administrators from all 12 SCAC institutions and was put together to provide an opportunity for attendees to connect with their peers around shared experiences, interests and the challenges of being a student-athlete or a coach in today's ever-changing environment.
Over the course of the two-day event, more than 55 individuals attended multiple sessions that focused on a variety of topics, making it one of the more important non-championship events in the league’s 33-year history.
“A consistent theme we have heard from our student-athletes, coaches and administrators, especially pushing forward through the COVID-19 pandemic, is the desire for additional programming and resources pertaining to and within the mental health space. Coming together and connecting as a league through group support and in-person workshops proved incredibly powerful and meaningful,” said SCAC Associate Commissioner Russell Kramer. “The more tools and support we can provide to our membership, the more we improve all of our athletic experiences.”
Facilitating the two-day event was Koomba, an organization consisting of former student-athletes who saw the need to create a network for student-athletes to work on their mental health & well-being while on-campus.
Koomba team members, including former SCAC and Colorado College student-athlete Sam Buxbaum, led this historic event and conducted multiple interactive sessions exploring ways to support and nourish mental health and well-being.
“We were thrilled with the success of our two-day in-person event with the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference,” said Koomba Co-Founder Greg Milnarik. “It was an incredible opportunity to connect with SCAC athletes, coaches and administrators, unpacking the critical topic of mental health and mental performance. We felt the interactive sessions provided valuable insights and fostered open conversations, reaffirming the conference’s commitment to supporting the mental well-being of athletes. We’re excited about the positive impact this collaboration will have and look forward to continuing our partnership to enhance the mental health resources available within the conference.”
Kramer was satisfied with the immediate feedback from those who attended and was hopeful that this would not be a one-time event. "This seemed like a very good use of our time and resources and I can see us doing this again down the road. For those who attended this year's inaugural event, it is my hope that they left feeling more empowered and will take some nugget of information back to campus that will assist them to move forward as a student-athlete, a coach or as an administrator."
“With mental health being a top priority for our student-athletes, coaches and administrators, this symposium underscores our commitment to providing the necessary resources and support," said Kramer.
Founded in 1962 as the College Athletic Conference and renamed the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference when the league added women's sports in 1991, the conference was formed to provide an association through which the member institutions may encourage organized competition in intercollegiate sports among teams representative of their respective student bodies. Members of this conference share a commitment to priority of the overall quality of academic standards and quality educational experiences. The SCAC sponsors 18 championship sports, nine for men and nine for women.