SE: Carlson Returns from NCAA Convention Appreciative of Student-Athlete Voice Being Heard
Jan 31, 2020 | Volleyball, Sports Extra, Athlete Services
By Corbin McGuire
K-State volleyball's Brynn Carlson sat in the same room as university presidents, voiced her opinion in the presence of athletic directors from across the country and learned more about some of the most pressing issues in collegiate athletics last week at the NCAA Convention in Anaheim, California.
Why Carlson, a redshirt junior outside hitter, was there ended up being her biggest takeaway from the three-day experience.
The Minnesota native said she wants student-athletes to have their voices heard in rooms where decisions made directly impact them. It's why she applied last fall to become the Big 12 Conference's representative on Division I SAAC (student-athlete advisory committee), a prestigious position she received and the reason for her trip to California last week.
"One thing I'm really passionate about is hearing the student-athlete voice through all levels of governance. I think we do a great job at the national level of letting student-athletes sit on the board of governors, sit on the board of directors, in those meetings that are super important, very high level, and our voice is taken very seriously," Carlson said. "I want to bring that back down to our conference level and down to our institutional level, for the student-athlete voice to be present in the room during big meetings, important committees. I hope and believe that I'm going to be well supported by administration to trying to work to make that change. I think it's just important for our voice to be in the room and our voice to be heard, not just communicated through someone else, but for us to actually be there at the table, part of the conversation."
That was her experience at the NCAA Convention. She was part of those meetings or, at the very least, met other student-athletes who were. All but three NCAA Division I committees, out of more than 20, have a student-athlete representative, including the board of directors.
So, throughout the discussions on important topics like transfer portal data, National Letter of Intent policy, good governance practices, transfer waivers, rule changes, and name, image and likeness (NIL) — the biggest subject this year — a student-athlete's perspective was in the room.
Carlson praised this part of her experience in Anaheim. She said it boils down to what the Division I SAAC members described their group as: "We are the 100 percent," as in they represent all of their Division I student-athletes. The decisions made at these meetings impact all of them. Carlson wants to continue to build on that idea.
"Everything that happens at an institutional, conference and national level is directly affecting us. So, one of my main priorities as a D1 national SAAC member is making sure that I do a good job of doing my due diligence to make sure student-athletes are well represented in the Big 12 Conference committees and leadership and that they're also well represented within their own institutional committees," Carlson said. "That's something that I already have lots of ideas about. I'm just really excited to work with (K-State Athletics Director) Gene (Taylor) and the athletics department, to work with the Big 12 office and see what we can do to continue to enhance the student-athlete voice."
In terms of specific discussions, Carlson said NIL dominated the week. As she listened and learned more about it, she said she came back knowing the topic is "extremely complex" but also confident that it's "moving in the right direction" for student-athletes. Again, she appreciated having their perspectives heard.
"The conversation is very complicated and, as student-athletes, we're trying to provide our feedback and what we want and what we don't want out of NIL. It's a complex issue and a lot of the complexity is because we have to make sure we are able to use name, image and likeness in a way that maintains our ability to stay student-athletes, focused on that educational part of student-athlete first, but also being able to benefit from our name, image, and likeness," she said. "We're looking at how name, image, likeness is going to impact not only the most famous players, the ones that we think of, basketball and football players who probably could benefit greatly off of it, but also how is this going to affect the Olympic sports? What are the possible ramifications or possible benefits for them? So, just trying to keep all that in mind when we go through the reform.
"We have some great student-athletes who are sitting on important committees, working groups, going through that reform and figuring out, 'What is going to be best for the student-athlete?' I think that was the central message of the whole conference was everyone here is trying to do everything we do for the benefit of the student-athlete. That's definitely a huge takeaway I brought back from the convention."
As her DI SAAC position comes with a three-year term and two other in-person meetings, along with teleconferences as needed, Carlson said she looks forward to continuing this first experience.
"I'm excited about that because I'm fairly experienced as a player and as a student, but I also still have a lot of years left ahead of me, so I'm excited about the opportunity to sit on this group for an extended period of time because I feel like it's going to be really beneficial for the Big 12 to have a consistent voice through me," she said, "and for the Big 12 and the institutions throughout the Big 12 to hear a consistent voice back from the NCAA, also through me. So, just trying to be that communication, that messenger to try to improve things on both ends of the spectrum."
K-State volleyball's Brynn Carlson sat in the same room as university presidents, voiced her opinion in the presence of athletic directors from across the country and learned more about some of the most pressing issues in collegiate athletics last week at the NCAA Convention in Anaheim, California.
Why Carlson, a redshirt junior outside hitter, was there ended up being her biggest takeaway from the three-day experience.
The Minnesota native said she wants student-athletes to have their voices heard in rooms where decisions made directly impact them. It's why she applied last fall to become the Big 12 Conference's representative on Division I SAAC (student-athlete advisory committee), a prestigious position she received and the reason for her trip to California last week.
"One thing I'm really passionate about is hearing the student-athlete voice through all levels of governance. I think we do a great job at the national level of letting student-athletes sit on the board of governors, sit on the board of directors, in those meetings that are super important, very high level, and our voice is taken very seriously," Carlson said. "I want to bring that back down to our conference level and down to our institutional level, for the student-athlete voice to be present in the room during big meetings, important committees. I hope and believe that I'm going to be well supported by administration to trying to work to make that change. I think it's just important for our voice to be in the room and our voice to be heard, not just communicated through someone else, but for us to actually be there at the table, part of the conversation."
That was her experience at the NCAA Convention. She was part of those meetings or, at the very least, met other student-athletes who were. All but three NCAA Division I committees, out of more than 20, have a student-athlete representative, including the board of directors.
"My favorite part was meeting and working with other like-minded student-athletes who are passionate about enhancing the student-athlete experience."#KStateVB's @brynn_carlson on her experience at the @ncaa Convention in Anaheim as the @big12conference SAAC rep over the weekend pic.twitter.com/j0Aks4Hpty
— K-State Volleyball (@KStateVB) January 27, 2020
So, throughout the discussions on important topics like transfer portal data, National Letter of Intent policy, good governance practices, transfer waivers, rule changes, and name, image and likeness (NIL) — the biggest subject this year — a student-athlete's perspective was in the room.
Carlson praised this part of her experience in Anaheim. She said it boils down to what the Division I SAAC members described their group as: "We are the 100 percent," as in they represent all of their Division I student-athletes. The decisions made at these meetings impact all of them. Carlson wants to continue to build on that idea.
"Everything that happens at an institutional, conference and national level is directly affecting us. So, one of my main priorities as a D1 national SAAC member is making sure that I do a good job of doing my due diligence to make sure student-athletes are well represented in the Big 12 Conference committees and leadership and that they're also well represented within their own institutional committees," Carlson said. "That's something that I already have lots of ideas about. I'm just really excited to work with (K-State Athletics Director) Gene (Taylor) and the athletics department, to work with the Big 12 office and see what we can do to continue to enhance the student-athlete voice."
In terms of specific discussions, Carlson said NIL dominated the week. As she listened and learned more about it, she said she came back knowing the topic is "extremely complex" but also confident that it's "moving in the right direction" for student-athletes. Again, she appreciated having their perspectives heard.
"The conversation is very complicated and, as student-athletes, we're trying to provide our feedback and what we want and what we don't want out of NIL. It's a complex issue and a lot of the complexity is because we have to make sure we are able to use name, image and likeness in a way that maintains our ability to stay student-athletes, focused on that educational part of student-athlete first, but also being able to benefit from our name, image, and likeness," she said. "We're looking at how name, image, likeness is going to impact not only the most famous players, the ones that we think of, basketball and football players who probably could benefit greatly off of it, but also how is this going to affect the Olympic sports? What are the possible ramifications or possible benefits for them? So, just trying to keep all that in mind when we go through the reform.
"We have some great student-athletes who are sitting on important committees, working groups, going through that reform and figuring out, 'What is going to be best for the student-athlete?' I think that was the central message of the whole conference was everyone here is trying to do everything we do for the benefit of the student-athlete. That's definitely a huge takeaway I brought back from the convention."
As her DI SAAC position comes with a three-year term and two other in-person meetings, along with teleconferences as needed, Carlson said she looks forward to continuing this first experience.
"I'm excited about that because I'm fairly experienced as a player and as a student, but I also still have a lot of years left ahead of me, so I'm excited about the opportunity to sit on this group for an extended period of time because I feel like it's going to be really beneficial for the Big 12 to have a consistent voice through me," she said, "and for the Big 12 and the institutions throughout the Big 12 to hear a consistent voice back from the NCAA, also through me. So, just trying to be that communication, that messenger to try to improve things on both ends of the spectrum."
Players Mentioned
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