Posted on May 20, 2003

Union College junior, Teran Tadal, was among a total of 302 student-athletes who have been tabbed as current or future leaders on their college campuses will meet this month to discuss key issues in intercollegiate athletics, and to enhance their leadership skills when they participate in the seventh annual NCAA Leadership Conference.

The activities will take place May 25-29, at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort and the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

This marks the second time that Union has been represented at the prestigious conference. In 1997 Carrie Heroth and Ibraham Adamu, both Class of 1999, were selected to attend.

Heroth, a psychology major, was a member of the field hockey and softball teams during her undergraduate career. Selected the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 field hockey team, Heroth was voted captain for her senior season of 1998. She was awarded the ECAC Medal as Union's “Outstanding Junior Female Athlete of the Year.”

Adamu, who was an economics and political science major, was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the 1997 soccer team and was captain of the squad during his senior season of 1998. He was awarded the William A. Pike Memorial Trophy as Union's “Outstanding Junior Male Athlete of the Year.”

Tadal, who is a native of Webster, New York, and a graduate of Our Lady of Mercy, is a three-year letterwinner for the soccer team and lettered for the outdoor track team this spring. She is majoring in environmental studies.

The 2003 NCAA Leadership Conference is one of the largest non-competitive gatherings of NCAA student-athletes. The conference is designed to enhance student-athletes' leadership and communication skills and to enable them to become more effective leaders and motivators when they return to their campuses.

The student-athlete leaders were selected from a total of 1,172 nomination forms that were submitted by college and universityofficials who have NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills programs at their schools. Student-athletes attending the leadership conference
reside in the United States and abroad. They represent Divisions I, II and III, and fall, winter and spring sports. This year's group of participants will represent 22 sports: baseball, basketball, crew, cross country, diving, equestrian, field hockey, ice hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, rifle, alpine skiing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.

During the five-day event, student-athletes have the opportunity to discuss a variety of topics, which include the demands and expectations of student-athletes; inclusion education; international student-athlete experiences; recruiting visits; student-athlete responsibility; party behaviors; trust gaps within intercollegiate athletics; and sportsmanship.

Criteria for selection include the student-athletes' demonstrated ability and strong desire to be a leader and the student-athletes' potential to benefit significantly from a leadership development experience. In order to be eligible for the conference, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing, and must have athletics eligibility remaining in the following academic year. A committee comprised of CHAMPS/Life Skills coordinators from member institutions and NCAA student-athletes review the nominations to determine the final selections.