UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – Five Cardinal student-athletes attended the NCAA National Career in Sports Forum, held June 7-10 in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the forum, the SVSU delegates were joined by other student-athletes from institutions across-the-country that span all three divisions of the NCAA membership.
Having the opportunity to attend the NCAA National Career in Sports Forum and represent Saginaw Valley State University, were:
| Name | Sport | Class | Hometown/High School |
| Brian Bott | Men's Track & Field | GR | Buckley, Mich./Kingsley HS |
| Sam
Breault |
Volleyball |
SR | Bad Axe, Mich./Bad Axe
HS |
| Devon
Eley |
Softball | SR | Centreville,
Mich./Centreville HS |
| Charley
Porter |
Women's Soccer | SR |
Midland, Mich./Midland HS |
| Kristen
Tomczyk |
Women's Soccer | SR | Lapeer, Mich./Lapeer East HS |
The SVSU student-athletes created a blog on their four-day experience at the conference. The following is the final installment of their journal:
Saturday, June
9
On day three, the conference began with a panel discussion consisting of different coaches from all three divisions explaining the general role of coaches in intercollegiate athletics.
Participants then separated into their career track preference: Administrative or Coaching. Administrative delegates were educated on the actual athletic administrator positions at the campus, conference, and national office levels. The day-to-day responsibilities of an athletic administrator and the differences in roles between divisions were explained.
In the coaching track, participants were separated into their chosen sport and the day-to-day responsibilities of that position were portrayed, as well as the positives and negatives of various positions.
Director of Social Media Strategies at the NCAA Dana Thomas followed with a presentation on the advantages of using social media in self-marketing, as well as the positives and negatives of the new technology.
The Saturday schedule of the CSF conference wrapped up with another color team discussion session. The Cardinal student-athletes then treated themselves to a nice dinner at the NCAA Hall of Champions (pictured).
Sunday, June
10
The fourth and final day of the NCAA Career in Sports Forum featured Clint Bruce, former Navy SEAL and founder and President of Trident Response Group as the closing keynote speaker. Bruce was a phenomenal speaker who presented about knowing the 'why' behind everything that you do.
The weekend festivities ended with one more color team session discussion.
Throughout the conference, the five SVSU delegates had the opportunity to network and socialize with many fellow student-athletes and administrators from different schools, divisions and sports.
"Before I went to CSF, I had an idea of what I thought I wanted to do after I graduate. Now, I know exactly what I want to do, how I'm going to get there, and when everything is going to happen," commented Sam Breault. "CSF gave me direction for life after volleyball."
Click here for Part 1 of the NCAA National Career in Sports Forum blog