Sports News: Spring 1999

April 7, 1999

RICKARDS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN 1999 NCAA FOUNDATION LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE FOR 2ND TIME

OVERLAND PARK, KS --- Senior Stephanie Rickards (Lansdowne/Upper Darby HS) of Moravian College have been selected to participate in the third annual NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference, which will be held May 31 to June 4, 1999, at Disney’s Wide World of Sports and Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The mission of the NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference is, through challenging and thought-provoking dialogue and activities, to prepare a diverse group of student-athletes to take an active leadership role on their campuses and in their communities. It will provide NCAA student-athletes with the opportunity to discuss and explore critical issues facing their peers; to enhance their leadership skills; and to promote better communication among student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty and communities.

A total of 300 student-athletes will attend the 1999 NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference. Student-athletes were nominated from NCAA member institutions, including those that participate in the CHAMPS/Life Skills program.

Rickards, a GTE/Academic All-American in volleyball and a member of the women’s basketball team, was selected from more than 500 nominations. Rickards is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at Moravian and one of 23 members of the NCAA Division III national Student-Athletes Advisory Committee and volunteer in many other organizations on and off of campus. Rickards works a tutor in the writing center on campus as well as a campus tour guide and the Student Alumni Association.

The NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference will focus on topics recommended by last year’s participants as well as by recommendations of Division I, II, and III NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committees. Some of these topics will include: coaching roles in intercollegiate athletics, media perception, and communication and leadership skills on campus and in the community.

Participants will engage in a variety of developmental activities designed to enhance their communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills. As a result of participation, student-athletes will build a long-lasting network of future leaders, be better able to address issues that are critical to student-athletes on campus and complete a self-directed project to address critical issues facing the campus.

Rickards is the only student-athlete from the 16 schools in the Middle Atlantic Conference to be selected to attend the NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference and the only student-athlete from a Lehigh Valley school to be selected.

For more information on the NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference or the CHAMPS/Life Skills program, contact Kimberly Dickson at the NCAA National Office, 913/399-1906 or the NCAA web site, www.ncaa.org.