The University of Missouri-St. Louis Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) concluded their fall semester programming with a Dodgeball and Volunteering Night on Monday (Nov. 18). The event brought 116 student-athletes and Athletic department staff together to play dodgeball, kick off the winter food drive, and create dog toys and holiday cards for different organizations in the St. Louis area. The event was, by all measures, a success and concluded a successful semester of programming for the committee.

Although SAAC programming is done for the semester, the committee is conducting a donation drive during the week of Dec. 2-7. Fans are encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item or travel size toiletry item to donate and will get a free popcorn at any UMSL Athletics event during the week. The food drive supports the St. Louis Area Food Bank. Donations will be collected through December 16.

This year, the goal of the SAAC officers was to host an event each month that allowed student-athletes to get to know one another thus fostering greater support.

To accomplish that goal SAAC president Courtney Settles (softball), Vice President Jaycee Cotton (women's soccer), Treasurer and Secretary Emmett Johnson (men's cross-country/track and field) and Social Media Director Jacob Warner (men's cross-country/track and field) hosted a Yard Game Bash in September. The event featured Cornhole and Spikeball and was all three officers' favorite event.

Settles described the success of the event, declaring "Our yard game event brought together so many of our athletes. We have found that the culture goes beyond our own sports and bringing us together looks like friendly competition."

She then tied the success of the event to the mission of SAAC, "Our events are focused on creating connections and providing student-athletes a chance to relax surround by people who understand the day-to-day hardships. That is exactly what SAAC stands for. "

Both Johnson and Warner seconded the success of the event. Johnson highlighted the ways that friendly competition "brought athletes from all teams closer." Warner emphasized the ways that "friendly competition" during the event "encouraged lasting connections."

Cotton pointed out that by picking "a very popular activity" like pickleball "helped bring out a lot of people from different teams." The event was "an opportunity to play with people they had never met and play against them."

To prove how long those lasting connections were, over 100 student-athletes showed up to Fall Fest, SAAC's October event that featured the annual chili cook off and a pumpkin carving contest.

The success of that event led SAAC to step (briefly) away from the competitive tournaments for the November event. Together, the 116 attendees recorded 125 volunteer hours by making 112 holiday cards and 30 dog toys out of old t-shirts. The cards were for local Children's Hospitals while the DIY dog toys were donated to APA Adoption Center.

After setting aside competition to volunteer, the November event featured a fun-filled dodge ball tournament that pitted student-athletes from various teams against an Athletic Department staff team.

With all three successful events, the SAAC officers stressed how important it was for student-athletes to be involved with the committee.

Johnson highlighted that "it's a good opportunity to get to know other athletes and to be involved in your athletics program in more ways that simply performing in your sport."

Warner seconded that, adding "it's a great way to gain a holistic understanding of the athletic department while getting to know other student athletes."

As Cotton pointed out, "it's an opportunity to take a break from your sport and just have fun," as well as a way "to meet new people and build friendships from other sports."

And Settles pointed out that being involved in SAAC "opened [her] eyes to the impact we [student-athletes in general and on the committee] have not only on our own campus, but across the NCAA as well!"

As for next semester? SAAC teased both the Annual SAAC Swim Meet and the Louies Awards Show.