Men's Soccer Player Attends NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Conference In Dallas, TX
Piedmont College men's soccer player Jorge Pradilla and fellow student-athlete and member of the volleyball team Kalin DeMarrais accompanied Senior Women's Adminstrator and head volleyball coach Katie O'Brien at the 2008 NCAA Division-III Student-Athlete Leadership Conference in Dallas, TX recently. Pradilla sat down with Sports Information Director Richard Dombrowsky to discuss the knowledge he acquired from the NCAA sponsored event.
1. Jorge, you attended the Leadership Conference as a representative of Piedmont College. What was your experience like?
The goal of the conference is to instill leadership qualities that can be shared amongst collegiate teams. In addition to leading on the field of competition, we learned skills that can help student-athletes become great leaders throughout campus. We also learned ways to improve the relationship among all the athletic teams at the college.
2. How did the Leadership Conference teach the student-athletes to become better leaders?
Well at first it was a little overwhelming. There were at least 600 athletes from all over the country and we were broken up into individual teams. In addition to the student-athletes there were also numerous coaches in attendance who gave us their point of view in addition to our own. Once we were broken into our teams we all learned ways to discover our own strentghs and weaknesses through team-building exercises.
3. What are some goals you have brought back to Piedmont that you would like to help instill in our athletic department?
Well for starters myself and Kalin, along with Coach O'Brien and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) would like to see more interaction between the teams. One common theme among teams is that the athletes usually only interact with other players of the same sport. We would like to see more support throughout the teams. We would also like to find ways to generate more fan support at games.
4. How do you think the conference went? Were you able to absorb all the information you were hoping to?
Absolutely, it was a tremendous experience for all of us. We really learned a lot about ourselves and our own leadership qualities and are extremely excited to begin working throughout the PC athletics department. It was really incredible to interact with so many athletes from all over the country as well as other team members from the Great South Athletic Conference.
5. Have you guys reported back to SAAC yet?
Yes, we met with them at their last meeting. In collaboration with SAAC we are already beginning the plans to implement leadership qualities amongst the teams as well as throughout campus. I personally am thrilled to share what I learned with my student-athlete peers in the hope of improving the athletic experience that is offered here at Piedmont College.
