Luther SAAC Hits the Books

From Tyler Wedemeier, SAAC President at Luther College:

"The Luther College SAAC partnered with the Worldwide Book Drive to promote literacy and education around the world. For two weeks, students, staff and faculty filled a box in bookstore of unused and unwanted textbooks. Altogether Luther SAAC collected over 400 lbs of books. Worldwide Book Drive has donated over 2,000,000 books globally."

Central SAAC Aids Wagoner Family

From Alicia O'Brien, Central College Associate AD and SAAC Advisor:

"SAAC sponsored a "Penny Wars" contest between the athletic teams on campus in order to raise money for the Wagoner family.  Mitch Wagoner, a junior track & field athlete at Central lost his brother, Tony, to cancer about a month ago.  The total amount raised was $250 and the check is being presented to Mitch by SAAC members, Shannon Coulson (softball) and Taylor Hill (golf)."

BVU Hosts "Take a Kid to the Game"

This from Kellyn Arnold from the BV Student-Athlete Advisory Committee:

"On Saturday, October 6th, the BVU Athletics Department and BVU SAAC students took part in the NCAA’s annual Take a Kid to the Game event.  Kids thru 8th grade were admitted FREE with a paid adult.  Each child got a FREE bag of popcorn from the BVU concessions, blue & gold Beaver pompoms and a beaver face tattoo.  They registered for door prizes and guessed how many candy corn were in a candy football dispenser.  In addition, Nick Schumacher donated 100 BVU Football  Game Day t-shirts for the first 100 kids in the gate!   Kids also had their headshot taken so we could display them on the video board during halftime and after the game.  Twenty-four door prizes winners were drawn (prizes were a BVU water bottle and 1 FREE candy bar from BV concessions).   In conjunction with the Take a Kid to the Game event, the BVU Cheerleaders also hosted  60+ kids at a youth cheer clinic that morning and those kids got to cheer with the BVU cheerleaders the entire first half."

Loras hosts ‘Play Day’ with Special Olympics Iowa

On October 13, the Loras College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee combined forces with Special Olympics Iowa for a Play Day in the Graber Sports Center. One of the Loras student-athletes who helped coordinate the event was SAAC executive member Kinsey Campbell. She turned in this review of the day.

Last spring we hosted Special Olympics Iowa at Loras in the AWC for a Challenge Day. Many volunteer Duhawk athletes came out to help support it and had just as much fun as the participating athletes did. We knew we wanted to do it again with even more activities. This was our first time doing a “Play Day” with the Special Olympians.

It was very similar to what we did in the spring, but the biggest difference was this event was with just the younger athletes. We had so many Loras athletes interested in signing up we had to turn some away! There were eight different events and every athlete was able to participate in each one.

“I had the opportunity to assist with the basketball event during the Play Day,” said Niki Rivera – one of the seniors on the women’s basketball team.

“It was an amazing experience.  Seeing the kids smile with excitement and joy when they made a shot really made my day!  This event made me take a step back and appreciate the abilities that I have been given.  And I am looking forward to volunteering for Special Olympics again in the future.”

“I had the chance to assist with the 25-foot dash and it was an incredible experience,” said Jayne Eslinger – one of Campbell’s teammates on the women’s soccer team.

“One of the participating boys was even able to get out of his wheelchair and walk the distance on his own despite his handicap. It was inspiring to see because each Special Olympics athlete had a smile on their face. That alone helped me gain a higher appreciation for my own abilities in athletics.”

Amy Nader was a team leader on that Saturday. “Being a team leader, I had the joy of working with a family of four - two energetic little boys and one happy little girl who were very helpful and encouraging to their older sister in a wheelchair. Each one loved all of the events,” said Nader.

Kathy Irving, the Director of Athlete Initiatives at Special Olympics Iowa, once again shared her gratitude and appreciation for what the Duhawks did to help make the Play Day a success.

“It was awesome. AWESOME,” Irving proclaimed this week. “We had 27 athletes attend and based on some conversations I had on Saturday, I believe we’ll be able to make that number go up in the future,” she added.

“What made it such a great event was the (Loras) students,” Irving continued. “They didn’t JUST volunteer and do their station. They interacted and really put themselves out there with our athletes. They got down there and played! Parents and first timers were blown away with how well it went.”

“I’ve been doing this 23 years, I work with colleges all over the state, I can’t stress enough how well the Loras students do to put everything into making the event happen… and to do so because they want to be there and help, not because they are forced to be there. They certainly don’t act like they have to be there. It is huge! The families of our athletes notice that – giving so much to our athletes.”

“I could not have been happier with how it went.”

Special Olympics Iowa will return to the Loras College campus on April 27, 2013 for another “Challenge Day.”

Coe SAAC Honors the Phifers with Honorary Captaincy

This from Kelsey Jipp (second from left) at Coe:

"SAAC made President Phifer and his wife, Linnie (center of photo), honorary captains at the Coe Homecoming football game.  They did the coin toss before the game and then were awarded with sports memorabilia from each sports team.  With this being President Phifer's last year at Coe, SAAC will will recognize him several times throughout year.  He has always shown great support to our athletic programs and student-athletes, and we know he will continue to do so after he retires.  We are thankful to have him as a Kohawk!"

BVU's Special Olympics Event a Big Success

On May 4, the BVU SAAC organized a Special Olympics Track & Field Day at Faith, Hope & Charity, a school in Storm Lake for students with special needs.  It was a beautiful, sunny day -- perfect weather for running, beanbag toss, hula hoops, and playing with a huge parachute.  The student-athletes and the Special Olympians shared their skills and worked out their bodies, then topped it off with some cupcake decorating.  Special credit goes to BVU’s SAAC secretary, Kylie Woodley, for organizing this event.

Loras Hosts Special Olympics Event

From Denise Udelhofen, Loras Associate AD and SAAC Adviser:

"Saturday, April 28th Loras College hosted a Special Olympics Challenge day. We had 81 Special Olympic athletes participate and 60+ Duhawk student athletes volunteer at the event. Activities included opening ceremony and various games -- volleyball, bowling, dice bowling, ball darts, batting off a tee and basketball -- that were played throughout the day, concluding with a closing ceremony.  It was a terrific event for Loras College Athletics and the Special Olympic athletes."