WU's van der Velde to Participate in NWC-SCIAC Meetings at NCAA Convention
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University men's soccer defender Mack van der Velde (Jr., Voorhout, Neth./Summit HS, Bend, OR) will be attending the 2020 NCAA Convention from Jan. 22-26 as a representative of student-athletes in the Northwest Conference. In addition to attending general convention events, van der Velde will participate in the first-ever joint meetings for student-athletes in the Northwest Conference (NWC) and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).
The schedule for van der Velde also will include leadership training with the Disney Institute on Saturday, Jan. 25. Also involved in the leadership training will be Leslie Shevlin, associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at Willamette.
"Willamette Athletics is proud to send Mack van der Velde as our representative to the NCAA Convention for the Northwest Conference," Shevlin siad. "Mack has made such an impact on our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and will be able to continue to lead with the knowledge he will gain at the convention. Mack will have the opportunity to interact with student-athletes from across the country and learn more about what makes them successful at their respective institutions. He will also get to share what makes his experience at Willamette a special one."
For van der Velde, attending the NCAA Convention will be a great learning experience.
"I am extremely excited and feeling very grateful for this opportunity to represent Willamette at the NCAA Convention," van der Velde said. "When it comes to the overall NCAA Convention, I am looking forward to meeting and networking with other student-athletes. I want to hear about what other schools do well, what they struggle with, and if any schools have found solutions to common difficulties when it comes to different topics like SAAC, interacting with the greater school community and just student-athletes in general.
"I feel extremely fortunate for the opportunity to be a part of the leadership training at Disney Institute," van der Velde added. "The training will provide me with tools that will help grow my leadership skills, and I will learn how to develop and get the best out of other leaders around me in many aspects of my life as an athlete, a student, and in the business world."
"Mack and I will also have the opportunity to learn from the best when it comes to leadership during our workshop with the Disney Institute," Shevlin said. "I cannot wait to bring the knowledge we gain back to our campus."
The NWC and SCIAC student-athletes who will meet on Saturday, including van der Velde, will have a chance to start important dialogues between the two conferences. As the only NCAA Division III conference on the West Coast, the NWC and the SCIAC share many similar issues related to scheduling, travel, etc.