Hey there Hawks fans!

I’ve been invited to be a columnist at the Roanoke Chowan News Herald for this year, and I’m really excited to have this opportunity.  Throughout the year, I’ll be providing an overview of Chowan athletics from my perspective as a student-athlete.

My experience at Chowan has been awesome- and I’m glad that to be able to share various aspects of our athletic program with you.

As introduction: my name is Allie Kolezynski, and I am senior at Chowan University.  I am a Business Administration major, and I‘m also a proud member of the softball team.

It is really scary to think that after this year I’ll be moving on to the “real world” with no classes, or practice!  I am originally from Strongsville, (a suburb of Cleveland) Ohio, and over the past few years Murfreesboro has come to feel like a home away from home.

Aside from being a student-athlete, I am also involved with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).  This committee is made up of representatives from each of our varsity sports’ teams, and is backed by the NCAA, the CIAA, and our campus.

Every campus that offers NCAA sponsored sports has a SAAC.  The intent behind the committee is that student-athletes will take responsibility for protecting the welfare of other student-athletes, and will lead the student-athlete body, general student body and community in service and community engagement activities.

Student-athletes are represented by a SAAC representative at the local (campus), conference (CIAA), and national level (NCAA).  Back in January, I was appointed to serve a three-year term as an NCAA DII National SAAC Member.  This is a big honor, and I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity.

As a National SAAC Representative, my responsibilities include representing Chowan, the CIAA, and DII student-athletes as a whole.  I attend NCAA and CIAA meetings throughout the year and act as a voice for student-athletes.  I am also responsible for explaining potential NCAA legislation changes to other SAAC Representatives in the CIAA, and making sure each school votes for their position.  I’ll collect these votes, and submit them to the NCAA, and eventually speak at the NCAA Convention to communicate the position of student-athletes to voting members of each school.

The Student Athlete Advisory Committee at Chowan has been very active over the past year, and we look to continue to set high standards for ourselves.

We’ve participated in community engagement projects throughout the year- our largest being Girls and Women in Sports Day.  This event won an NCAA Community Engagement Award over the summer, and we are very proud of that!

In addition, our school won the CIAA Positive Game Environment Award, which is given to the school that shows excellent sportsmanship, and provides a fun, positive game atmosphere for opposing teams.  The winner of this award is determined by SAAC Representatives throughout the conference.  It was an honor to be selected by our opponents to receive this award.

Throughout this year, I’ll be giving you updates about various sports teams as well as the events we’ll be hosting through the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.  On behalf of all student-athletes at Chowan, we appreciate the support we receive from our community. We love seeing community members in the stands!  Thank you for your support!  Go Hawks!

Allie Kolezynski is a senior at Chowan University and a member of the Hawk softball team. She can be reached via email at sports@r-cnews.com.