Auburn Tigers attend SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Council

AUBURN, Ala. – Four Auburn Tigers attended the SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Council June 23-24 in Birmingham, developing skills they plan to employ on the Plains.
 
Auburn's delegation included volleyball's Jackie Barrett, women's basketball's Audia Young, soccer's Anna Haddock, football's Malcolm Johnson Jr. and men's basketball's Tre Donaldson, who was unable to attend
because of illness.
 
Attendees, featuring 66 invitees from all 14 SEC universities, included representatives from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Football Leadership Council and Men's and Women's Basketball Leadership Council.
 
The Council heard presentations from Blair Bloomston of Game On Nation and Will Baggett of Emergent Executives on mental health and personal and professional development. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and SEC Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Katie O'Neal also met with the student-athletes.
 
"Being in a group setting with a bunch of leaders from all the campuses was awesome," said Barrett, Auburn's incoming SAAC president. "The SEC invests a lot of time and effort to assist student-athletes. They want to see us grow outside of athletics and the classroom. They want us all to be leaders."

"To better ourselves as leaders and try to continue doing what we do and making a difference," said Haddock, SAAC co-vice president for 2023-24. "It shows that we in the SEC care about our student-athletes and we want to help them."
 
The Auburn student-athletes appreciated seeing their SEC peers outside the competition venue.
 
"We compete on the field but we can help each other out a lot in the real world and enhance student-athletes' experience," Haddock said.
 
"We all have a lot in common even though we're all playing at different schools," Barrett said.
 
The SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Council provides an opportunity for SEC student-athletes to engage with campus leaders and conference office staff. Leadership Councils for football and men's and women's basketball, along with SAAC, provide a conduit of communication to the conference office on issues related to student-athlete experience, student-athlete wellness and playing rules.
 
"I learned a lot about rules and expectations, and how they make decisions as a whole," said Young, a redshirt freshman and second-generation member of Auburn's women's baseball team. "I took a lot from it."
 
Auburn's SAAC leaders are planning service projects for the upcoming athletic year, growing the organization's social media presence as well as implementing an Athletes Support Athletes initiative that encourages student-athletes to attend their fellow Tigers' events.
 
"I'm really passionate about that because it makes a really big difference when you see that people care about us and our sport. It definitely goes a long way," Haddock said. "Involvement and trying to make Auburn a better place."
 
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer