Nicholls athletes come together for kickball tournament

The Student Athlete Advisory Committee of Nicholls State University held its first kickball tournament on Friday, Jan. 20. The event was created to bring all student athletes together in an environment where they could compete and get to know each other better. Eight teams were created and members from every sport at Nicholls were represented on each team. According to the SAAC, the teams will remain the same for future events to promote community and camaraderie among student-athletes.

“The kickball game is the first in a series of events that will be held by the SAAC to determine the best group of athletes on the Nicholls campus,” SAAC officer Al Wilson said. “There will be community service events along with fun activities like that for us to grow as an athletic community.”

“The event was really just to bring athletes from all sports together. We wanted to create a little family among Nicholls athletes and just have fun,” SAAC officer Liz Newell said. “We don’t get a chance to do this very often so it was really nice.”

The combined leadership of Athletic Director, Matt Roan, and Athletic Director for Compliance, Andrew Kearney, has generated more interest in the SAAC as a committee where the voices of student-athletes can be heard.

“Since Matt Roan has stepped foot on campus, he has had an open door policy, and the door holder seems to be the SAAC,” officer Megan Landry said. “He personally extended this welcoming attitude to us in one of our first meetings, and it is clear that Matt Roan will not only work hard to improve our athletic programs, but also to genuinely care about each and every athlete.”

According to Landry, SAAC’s future plans will include more events similar to the kickball tournament such as a trivia night and community service events.

The next meeting will be held on Feb. 6 to determine the next SAAC Game.