MENOMONIE (February 2, 2017) - UW-Stout assistant men's basketball coach
Ben Sanders got a chance to see athletics from a different point of view when he participated in the 2017 NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar.
Sanders was one of 222 interns and graduate assistants selected to take part in the event from a national pool of applicants across all of the NCAA's division levels. The event took place Jan. 25-27 at the NCAA national office in Indianapolis.
"This gave me a much greater appreciation of everything that goes on in an athletic department," Sanders said.
The Emerging Leaders Seminar provides educational and transitional programming for NCAA graduate assistants and interns who have shown a profound interest in pursuing a career in college sports. The participants also explored the role of NCAA governance, including the differences among the divisions and the role of conference offices.
"I really didn't know what to expect," Sanders said. "I knew it would be an event that would challenge me."
Sanders said the seminar featured many outstanding speakers. He was particularly impressed with Kerry Kenney, the assistant commissioner of Public Affairs of the Big Ten, Karen Stromme, associate athletics director for internal operations and senior woman administrator at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and Oliver Luck, NCAA executive vice president of regulatory affairs and the father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
Sanders said Kenney, a former participant in the seminar as a student several years ago, acted as an emcee for the event.
"It was fun to meet with him and bounce off ideas of what I may want to do with my career," Sanders said. Stromme gave simple advice – do not be afraid to fail. "Go out and try new things, she said."
The 222 participants were divided into groups of 11 after the first day and eventually were given an assignment – organize a Homecoming-type event.
"We put this together in one evening, then we created a 15-minute presentation which we gave to a number of NCAA people," Sanders said. "As an athlete and as a coach, we don't always have the perspective of what really all goes into an event."
Sanders said he learned so much about athletics, but he also learned more about himself.
"They asked us 'Know your WHY,'" Sanders said. "What is it you want to do and why? What is it that you value and why do you want to work in that area? Why did I get into coaching to begin with? Always make sure the student-athlete comes first, that we are servant-leaders. What can we do to make an impact on a student-athlete's life? What can we do to help them?"
"We talked about some simple things – like treating people well," Sanders said, "Genuinely treating everybody well."
"This seminar was sensational," Sanders said. "I loved it. This opened my eyes to other careers (within athletics) and the opportunities there are to help the student-athlete."
Sanders is in his first year with the Blue Devils. Sanders graduated from Saint John's University in 2016 with a bachelor of arts in Global Business Leadership. He has worked with the Minnesota Twins and Dayta Marketing in business and marketing development.
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Over the nine years of the program's existence, the Emerging Leaders Seminar has welcomed more than 1,000 athletics professionals to the NCAA national office for this engaging education and networking opportunity.
During the 2017 seminar, participants heard from industry leaders and experts, including: Oliver Luck, NCAA executive vice president of regulatory affairs; Meg Stevens, director of athletics, Averett University; Devin Crosby, director of athletics, Lynn University; Erin McDermott, director of athletics, University of Chicago; Felicia Martin, senior associate athletics director for academics and student services, Texas Tech University and future vice president of the NCAA Eligibility Center; and Scott Wiegandt, director of athletics, Bellarmine University.
Other scheduled speakers included: Rob Carrolla, director of communications, Big 12 Conference; LaMar Campbell, assistant athletics director for student-athlete engagement, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Tom Mitchell, associate athletics director for compliance, Purdue University; Dawn Ellerbe Crawford, associate athletics director for branding and fan development, California State University Northridge; Karen Stromme, associate athletics director for internal operations and senior woman administrator at the University of Minnesota Duluth; and Yulander Wells, senior associate athletics director for finance and chief financial officer, University of South Florida.
