Francesca Testa, Junior, Western Connnecticut State University, Women's Swimming and Diving

Testa is the Chair of the Little East Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is a member of the WestConn women's swimming team.  She holds six individual school records in swimming at Western Connecticut including the 200 backstroke, 50 Butterfly, 100 Butterfly, 200 Butterfly, 100 Individual Medley, and 400 Individual Medley.  Testa is also member of the school-record holding 400 meter medley relay, 200 freestyle relay and 800 meter freestyle relay.  Through out the 2009-2010 academic year, Testa will again post blogs to www.littleeast.com.

January 31, 2010 

The members of the Little East Conference SAAC committee had our annual winter meeting in Providence, RI and thanks to the members of all eight institutions; we were able to address many of the issues facing our campuses and student athletes. As part of the conference the student athlete representatives were able to spend time getting to know each other in a social atmosphere by spending some time at Dave and Busters in downtown Providence before getting down to the business of the weekend. We were able to learn more about each other, which I think was largely beneficial because it made it more comfortable for us to share ideas and speak more openly with one another.

The following morning we had an outstanding guest speaker, Dr. Jenny Withycombe who works as a consultant with the NCAA. She spoke to us about diversity education and how as members of SAAC and leaders on our campus, we can incorporate diversity and inclusion into our programs. One part of the program, which most of the athletes enjoyed was when Dr. Withycombe put controversial statements on an overhead projector and tried to get us to choose one side or the other and then defend ourselves. It was much harder than we thought it would be and really broadened our view of racial diversity in athletics and allowed us to see things much differently.           

The most exciting project that came out of the weekend would be the new community service program our conference SAAC members have decided to adopt. We are looking into collecting teddy bears for emergency services. Each institution will be collecting bears to donate to ambulance and police services to provide to young children. The best part about the project is that even though all eight schools are located in various areas throughout New England, we can all come together and participate in the same effort to benefit the community.

September 23, 2009

Entering my senior year of college and my last year of eligibility is a bittersweet time for me as well as other senior athletes. It is a stressful time to get prepared for graduate school applications and other job opportunities, but on the other hand getting to spend this last year with my team balances it all out. The past three years being involved in athletics has been the greatest college experience I could have ever had and in beginning the season, it holds great expectations for me as well as my other senior teammates. Our individual and team goals are set higher and it is incredibly important to us to leave on a positive note. Many other seniors who go through college enter their final year with "senioritis", but I think many of the student athletes are the opposite of the typical graduating student. We work even harder than we have throughout our college years because our sport is important to us and we want to do the best we can.  I truly feel that all the lessons I have learned as a student athlete in the Division III arena have prepared me for my life after athletics. I have learned the meaning of persistence and motivation through the doubles, long practices, and strenuous training trips that my teammates and I have shared together. We have a strong sense of discipline and while others our age would go out on the weekends, as athletes you realize that sacrifice will, in turn, lead to a successful season. I have high hopes for our upcoming swim season and an unforgettable senior year.

March 25, 2009

One of the benefits of being part of the LEC SAAC is that all the members get to share ideas and concerns with each other. One of the common concerns that comes up every time we meet and discuss is how to get more students involved with athletic events on campus. Especially with some of the smaller schools in our conference, getting student attendance at all athletic events is a challenge. One of the ideas that some of the schools in the LEC had adopted, which seems to be extremely successful is what they refer to as their “Superfan” project. As part of this idea, each team has one game that is designated as their “Superfan” game. The athletes work hard to promote attendance to each of these games in hopes that once students come and experience the athletic events, they will be more apt to come to them in the future. The freshman class is the most important part of this project because once the freshman class is reached out to by the athletic community, they will set an example for the rest of the time they are in school. Student attendance is not just low with athletic events, but I feel that when students are always looking for things to do, it is easy for the athletes to reach out and get positive results because there is always some athletic sponsored event happening. This is where SAAC can play in integral role on campus.

February 18, 2009

From my experience as president of SAAC at WCSU the past few years, I have realized how much influence the student-athlete can have on campus and in their surrounding community. Athletes have a lot more influence on campus than they may realize and we should use this influence to give back to others. Service on campus and community outreach are things WCSU SAAC does regularly. Not only do we volunteer as SAAC, but we volunteer as teams and individuals as well. Using the athletics "brand" can be extremely useful if done correctly on campus. I think what has been most helpful, especially for our university, has been establishing our athletes as unified leaders and role models at the university and in the community. Other groups/organizations have seen this and when they have a project or proposal, they can come to the student-athletes and ask for our support. By having the athletic name and support behind the project, it many times, may be easier to launch the project on a wider scale around campus. For example, recently members of one of our academic departments on campus came to our SAAC and asked for the athletes' support in their new community service campaign. As athletes, we knew our support and name would help promote the cause and raise money. We are now involved in raising money and awareness for "Nothing but Nets", which is sponsored by the United Nations to provide Malaria nets to families to protect against the disease. I feel that it is extremely important for athletes, especially in Division III, to realize their potential for influence and promotion of positive community programs both on and off their campus.

February 2, 2009

For winter sports, the transition back into school from having a month long break is always difficult. Fall sports players can relate as well because they go from spending long days in training camp where you basically eat, sleep, and breathe your sport to having to go back to a hectic 20-hour day schedule. Over winter break all we have to worry about is getting up for practice on time and what we are going to cook for dinner (or where we are going to go out to eat because I am not a chef), but as soon as the semester starts it throws more challenges at us as athletes. The worst part about having to adapt to this as a winter sport athlete is that all this change comes during championship season. The practice schedule gets more intense as championships approach and depending on the team, these games/meets can last well into March. One of the most important things I’ve learned especially at the beginning of the second semester is to create a strong rapport with my professors. The more you respect them, the more they will respect your interest in athletics, especially at a Division III level. I have realized how important this relationship is during Championship season when having to miss class due to athletic related events. The stronger your relationship is with your professors, the more likely they will be to support you and your team to other faculty and in the classroom.

January 18, 2008

On January 1, the WCSU women's swimming and diving team left for our training trip and this year we trained in Key Largo, Florida. Being part of a winter sport is difficult because New England is not very exciting to be in during the winter months and also, we train consistently throughout the winter break. Traveling to another state, especially a warm one, definitely brings up our team morale during the long part of our training season and gives us an opportunity to become more cohesive as a team. This year when we went down to Key Largo we found out that we would be training with the University of Michigan men's team. Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps's coach, was the previous coach for the University of Michigan men's team. Many of the men on the University of Michigan men's team also swim for Club Wolverine in Michigan, which is a training club for numerous Olympic swimmers including Michael Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay, and Erik Vendt. Being able to swim with such a recognized team was able to give the girls on my team a different perspective into the sport. We were able to watch them practice and do different drills and swimming sets, which we can learn from to improve our own training. This is definitely one of the benefits to our training trips in that we are able to train with others, including a past Olympian, and other Division I teams and we can take that experience back to Connecticut. Although it is difficult returning to New England after being down in 80 degree weather for two weeks, we are all more motivated to continuing the rest of our season.

December 12, 2008

Over this past weekend I got the opportunity to participate in both the LEC Swimming and Diving Championships as well as the LEC SAAC meeting. The Little East Conference Swimming and Diving Championships were held Saturday December 6, at UMASS Dartmouth and Keene State, Eastern Connecticut State University, Plymouth State, UMASS Dartmouth, and Western Connecticut State University all competed in the meet. Having two championship meets a season is beneficial not only for the upperclassman on the team, but for the new members as well. They get the experience of attending our conference championships in the winter and taking part in the atmosphere of a collegiate championship meet, which prepares them for the rest of the season. One of the changes our conference is making this year is in award presentations. Typically, only first place gets a trophy and second and third are awarded with certificates of achievement, but our conference will now be looking into awarding all top two finishers with trophies. The winning conference team will also be receiving miniature replicas of the team trophy. These changes to award presentations are well deserved by the athletes.

The day after our championships were over, I attended our LEC SAAC meeting in Waltham, MA. As a conference SAAC, we came up with some great ideas to work towards more philanthropy and campus events. We also discussed how to encourage more attendance of the student population at our athletic events and the representatives from the meeting will be bringing those suggestions back to their respective institutions. We have updated the LEC SAAC website, which includes our constitution, all our members, as well as all the information from the Fall 2008 meeting.

December 1, 2008

The Little East Conference SAAC (Student Athletic Advisory Committee) meets twice a year with representatives from all eight schools in the conference. Our mission is to enhance the overall experience of student athlete’s in all of our conference school’s communities. The LEC SAAC attempts to do this by addressing issues affecting student athletes, promoting a positive athlete image, and encouraging a relationship between the LEC and NCAA. This year’s fall meeting will be held next Sunday, December 7, in Waltham, MA. It will be a full day conference where we will combine teambuilding and leadership activities with informational sessions on issues affecting athletes in Division III schools all over the country and within our conference. At the meeting we will be having a guest speaker to address sportsmanship, fan behavior, as well as teambuilding, all of which are important skills and topics to address and strengthen among our athletes. Along with our special speaker, we will also be having our NCAA SAAC representative, Philip Tonucci, to discuss legislation that is being brought up at the NCAA level. This is an integral part of being on SAAC because the members at this conference get to learn about some of the important legislation firsthand and have an open forum about our opinions on these rulings. Athletes have more of a say in what happens on the legislative level than we may think and SAAC gives us the opportunity to voice our concerns. The LEC meeting is useful as well because each individual SAAC uses the time to share their ideas about programming and philanthropy events with each other. Although it is mandated by the NCAA for each member institution to have a SAAC on their campus, the organization is beneficial to all athletes that get involved.

November 18, 2008

For a student athlete, time management is an extremely important skill to master early on in their collegiate career. Athletics, no matter what division, is demanding between practices, competitions, and other team commitments. Especially in Division III, athletes are involved in much more than just their sport and their academics. As a student-athlete at WCSU, I manage my time not only between school and swimming, but also between our Student Government Association and Greek Life. I believe it is important to be a well-rounded individual as a member of my university’s community, but along with these commitments comes a constraint on my time. The most important thing about managing your time is to determine your priorities and lay them out for yourself. Division III maintains a high standard of academic excellence for all our athletes, which is why we are known as students first and athletes second. Being an athlete, however, holds two benefits because not only does it help keep students on track with their work, but works to relieve stress that most students face on a daily basis. I know that having a tight schedule between class and practice, it actually forces me to finish my work in a more timely fashion than if I were to have extra leisure time between classes. When I do get stressed out from work or other commitments, I know that going to practice helps to relieve some of that stress. The first semester is always long and tedious and for many students, including myself, we may not get a break until the end of November. However, using the time management skills athletics awards us, being a successful student and participating in all the other activities we enjoy as students is attainable.

November 10, 2008

Being a student-athlete as part of a Division III conference is extremely rewarding both athletically and academically. The Division III philosophy focuses on the quality of education and the completion of education at the college or university. The athletic environment in the Little East Conference is conducive to the overall educational experience and I feel that choosing a school in Division III has been the best decision I could have made. After going through the recruitment process in high school, Division I schools were strongly encouraged and competitive athletic programs were always pushed for the athletes at my school. My swim team in high school produced many All-Americans and most of our All-Americans went to Division I schools on full scholarships or to an Ivy League university. However, I chose to go to Western Connecticut State University to focus on my academics and my goal of becoming a high school teacher. Being an athlete at WCSU is still competitive, but our athletic programs promote academic success and the development of sportsmanship as our first priorities. Most of my friends who were granted full scholarships to Division I schools ended up leaving the sport they had done for their whole lives because it was no longer enjoyable. I did not want that to happen to me. The DIII Philosophy maintains a high level of passion among athletes because our athletes continue their sport because they love it, and not because of monetary commitment to the university or college. The athletes in our conference also pride themselves in their academic success and the Little East Conference rewards those successes by naming athletes that qualify to the LEC All Academic Teams. Whatever your competitive level within your sport, choosing to go Division III is beneficial for all athletes.