Tennis Player Cruz-Cruz Gains Experience Working with Summer Conferences

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University student-athlete Noemi Cruz-Cruz (Galt, CA/Liberty Ranch HS), a member of the women's tennis team, is working on campus this summer in the Scheduling, Events and Conferences Office before she begins her junior season with the Bearcats this fall.

As an assistant to the office's director, Kathleen Kellay, Cruz-Cruz is getting first-hand experience interacting with outside groups and helping those groups develop plans for conferences and events on the WU campus. Cruz-Cruz works about 40 hours per week.

She is one of several Willamette students who are assisting Kellay this summer. Co-workers of Cruz-Cruz include Guillermo Ramirez, Steve Peters and Teddy Healy. In addition, former Willamette student and baseball player Nate Balk is helping with conferences this summer.

Although Cruz-Cruz helps out with various aspects of each conference hosted at Willamette, she has greater responsibilities when she's the lead contact.

"Every staff member is assigned to a specific conference," Cruz-Cruz said. "For example, I was the lead for Girls State."

According to Cruz-Cruz, Kellay handles the major projects associated with each conference, but the lead meets in advance with organizers of the outside group to help them plan for the conference. The lead provides the group with floor plans and makes sure that the appropriate residence hall is available and ready for use. The lead remains the primary contact for the group during the conference and seeks additional help when needed.

Girls State was held at Willamette in mid-June. Approximately 130 girls participated in the week-long event.

"We are essentially the middlemen," Cruz-Cruz said of her conference co-workers, who form the link between outside groups and Willamette.

"We make sure everything is ready for their stay. Make sure they're having a good time. Make sure everything is going right and everything is smooth and easy," Cruz-Cruz said.

Things usually run very smoothly, thanks to all of the preparation taken by Kellay, Cruz-Cruz and the other workers. Even so, problems occur. The lead and other workers at each conference are ready to solve the problems as quickly and efficiently as possible.

A plumbing issue occurred this summer during the Girls State convention.

"Plumbing is a huge thing," Cruz-Cruz said. "There was a toilet splashing water everywhere. It was 11 o'clock at night. So that was our priority and we got it fixed."

Later this summer, Cruz-Cruz will be the lead working with the Nike Girls Soccer Camp and the Oregon Foster Youth Program.

It takes significant planning to set up and host a well-run, multi-day event. The process begins with a pre-conference to learn all of the the groups needs and objectives.

"We have everyone from every department that's involved on campus," Cruz-Cruz explained regarding the pre-conference, which also includes leaders of the outside group. "It's just to get the logistics out of the way and make sure that we prepare everything for them."

Once the time arrives for the conference, the lead person from Willamette keeps in contact with the visiting group.

"We make sure that we're noticeable and that they know we're available for them."

Willamette is a popular site for events and conferences during the summer. Many of Willamette's coaches hold sport-specific camps in the summer. Outside groups also like to hold their events on campus. This year, there are about 20 groups with camps, conferences or other significant meetings scheduled at Willamette.

"The reason I got that job is I want the experience and I want to help my parents with paying to go to Willamette," Cruz-Cruz said. "So what I earn is going to go to my tuition."

This is the second summer that Cruz-Cruz has worked in Salem during the summer. A year ago, she helped with the Salem Family Literacy Program. Workers with the program watched the young children of teenage mothers while the mothers were studying to pass their graduate equivalency degrees (GEDs). Cruz-Cruz looked after children from six months to three years old.

When the fall semester gets underway, Cruz-Cruz will return to the Willamette women's tennis team for her third season with the Bearcats. Although she played three seasons of tennis in high school, she wasn't sure at first if she would have time for tennis at the college level.

"I didn't think tennis would work with my schedule," Cruz-Cruz recalled. "I met with Head Coach Becky Roberts and we figured out that tennis didn't conflict with my schedule." She joined the team during the spring semester of her freshman year.

"It's sort of my escape from the whole college scene," Cruz-Cruz said about tennis. "If it's a tough day, I can go hit some tennis balls and it's alright. The coach is great and the players are great. Every season is awesome with the girls who have stayed, and I still keep in touch with the girls who have left. Tennis has created this bond between the players and it's nice."

NOTE:  Summer in Salem is a series of articles about Willamette University student-athletes who are staying in Salem or nearby communities this summer.