FLUSHING, N.Y. – The City University of New York Athletic Conference held its annual SAAC Leadership and Coaches Rules Seminars on Aug. 18 as part of the conference's Talk About It Tuesdays webinar series.

The SAAC Leadership Seminar kicked off with a discussion from Patrick Anderson, a world champion and three-time Paralympic gold medalist in the sport of wheelchair basketball. The Hunter alum shared his experience as a student-athlete and his ascension to becoming one of the world's greatest wheelchair basketball players. Hosted by CUNY's Inclusive Sport Advisor Ryan Martin, the two then held a Q&A session for student-athletes, as Anderson provided tips on leadership and being successful in academics and athletics. 

 

The programming later featured CUNYAC Scholar-Athletes of the Year, Asimina Hamakiotes of Baruch and Lamarana Diallo of BMCC. Martin held a discussion with both honorees, as the duo provided advice to student-athletes on how to manage academics and athletics at an exceptional level.



The day was wrapped up with CUNYAC's coaches and staff. The Coaches Rules Seminar began with a presentation from Jeff Myers, Director of Academic and Memberships Affairs for the NCAA. The evening concluded with a discussion with CUNYAC Commissioner, Zak Ivkovic.
 
The SAAC Leadership and Coaches Rules Seminars have traditionally been held in-person on member campuses, but with the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, CUNYAC moved the event to a virtual platform, ensuring that student-athletes, coaches and staff have the opportunity to kick off the 2020-21 campaign with informative programming.
 
CUNYAC student-athletes are encouraged to attend our CUNYAC Town Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 10:00 a.m. The webinar will serve as an open forum for students, as we provide updates regarding the uncertainty around the Fall semester and what a potential return to sports will look like in 2020. The session will feature Ivkovic, Baruch Director of Athletics Heather MacCulloch and Bronx Director of Athletics Ryan McCarthy. Register here.

Tuesday's broadcast is a part of several sessions hosted by the CUNY Athletic Conference. Talk About It Tuesdays is programming provided by the conference to serve as educational resources for our student body across CUNY's 25 campuses.

The series comprises several programs, ranging from: preparing for the upcoming season mental health, on campus support systems, recruiting and social media, among other programming topics relevant to our students amidst these unprecedented times of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Each of the sessions are free, but registration is required. An abbreviated recap will be available on YouTube and cunyathletics.com soon after each webinar.