With practices, games, weight training, classes and homework, student athletes don’t have too much free time. But most of the campus community doesn’t know many of them spend their free time giving back to the community.
Terrapin junior defensive end Shawne Merriman will hold his second annual holiday coat drive benefiting area youth Sunday at the Terp men’s basketball team’s game against UNC-Asheville. His generosity stems from a childhood of economic uncertainty and is one of many service activities student athletes participate in each year.
Student Athlete Advisory Committee members routinely participate in community service activities because they want to take advantage of their status as athletes – a role they said people on the campus often misunderstand.
“We get stereotyped constantly,” SAAC President and swimmer Michael Fried said. “People don’t understand that many of the athletes here are extremely good students, and they do so much community service.”
SAAC, which is recognized by the Student Government Association, consists of at least two representatives from each of the university’s 27 varsity sports teams. The group meets monthly to discuss issues important to student athletes and formulate ways to help the community.
Fried said most athletes participate in at least one event each year.
SAAC collected cans at Midnight Madness to donate to the Capital Area Food Bank, the group’s most widely publicized event.
Many student athletes sign up with SAAC to participate in the Terp Reading Program, where they visit local elementary schools and read books to children.
This activity can be as rewarding for student athletes as it is for the children, who don’t recognize the difference between high-profile athletes and those who play on less-recognized teams.
“The kids think you are greater than [former Terps men’s basketball player] Juan Dixon,” said senior Sara Silvetti, a back on the field hockey team.
Fried said student athletes also bring team posters and occasionally sign autographs.
“I’m a swimmer, but I still get to sign autographs like I’m a football player,” Fried said.
SAAC also serves as the governing body for student athletes. The group represents athletes when new legislation is being considered and operates under a small budget from the athletic department.
SAAC started a peer mentor program this semester in which junior and senior members were matched with first-year athletes on different teams to help them adjust to the student-athlete lifestyle.
“It’s a full-time job to be a student athlete,” Silvetti said. “It’s definitely a different way to go through college.”
Spirit Games, in which each team selects an important home game at which other teams are encouraged to attend in support, also strengthens athletes’ unity.
SAAC has also hosted speakers to discuss issues such as leadership, hazing and sexual assault with athletes.
Every NCAA school is required to have a SAAC, but groups at some schools are more active than others, said Senior Associate Athletics Director Michael Lipitz.
Silvetti – who was the group’s president last year and attended a meeting with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s SAAC representatives – admitted this university’s committee is “average” compared to other groups’ activities, but said this university’s SAAC is still successful.
For many student athletes, participating in SAAC events can translate to having greater leadership roles on their respective playing surfaces.
“SAAC is a team,” Fried said. “We need to work together to do everything. The same people leading the organization are leading teams.”
As thousands of fans fill Comcast Center Sunday to watch student athletes on the basketball court, other less-recognized athletes will collect coats or food for charity or spend time with area youth.
Ultimately, Merriman may be remembered this year for being named an all-ACC performer on the football field, but his benevolence is also a major aspect of his role as a community member.
“This time of year, there are so many people out there who aren’t able to afford coats,” Merriman said in an announcement about the event. “I know the feeling, and I want to do all I can to make sure others don’t.”
For Fried and other SAAC members less touted for their athletic performances, service is a way for them to show they appreciate what they have.
“I’m getting an opportunity to give back to people that support us as athletes and those less fortunate than I am,” he said.
NOTE: Merriman and teammates will be outside Comcast Center at noon Sunday. New and old coats, ski jackets, parkas and windbreakers will be accepted, and all donations are tax deductible. They collected more than 3,500 coats last season.
