Jim Carr, president and CEO of the NAIA.
70th Annual NAIA Convention: Day 3 Recap
KANSAS CITY -- Sunday's activity at the 70th annual NAIA Convention was highlighted by Jim Carr's State of the Association address.
State of the Association Address
NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr gave the State of Association Address on Sunday afternoon. The convention is about celebrating the 60,000 student-athletes of the NAIA, focusing on commitment to character-driven intercollegiate athletics and exploring the opportunity to innovate and meet the needs of future student-athletes. Jim invited others to join in the conversation so that we can use our collective experiences to serve the 60,000 student-athletes that compete in the NAIA now and those who will follow. Jim reported that the early success of the NAIA Eligibility Center not only gives us confidence, it also tells us that the potential is limitless if we commit to innovation. To accelerate our quest to innovate, the NAIA has hired Bruce Hall and the Eureka Ranch, leaders in the field, to imbed innovation into our organization. Bruce and his colleagues have led innovation projects for some of the best known brands in the world including Procter and Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Disney and Nike.
Jim also said we can do more and we can do better. Incremental change is not enough so we must simultaneously strengthen our core while looking for new opportunities to create meaningfully unique solutions to important problems.
Jim ended by saying, "If we commit to character-driven intercollegiate athletics as our focus, if we commit to innovation and the fearlessness it takes to try new things; we will own character-driven intercollegiate athletics in a way that will drive new students to your campus and see them through graduation and beyond."
The State of the Association will be available in the coming days on the NAIA website, www.NAIA.org.
Athletics Directors Association
On Sunday morning the Athletics Directors Association (ADA) gathered for its annual business meeting. Kevin Steele, athletics director at MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), was announced as the incoming ADA secretary and the 2009-10 conference/A.I.I. awards were presented. The ADA heard from the National Administrative Council (NAC) by way of a report from Corey Westra, GPAC Commissioner and NAC Chair. Jeff Bain, athletics director at Martin Methodist (Tenn.), highlighted the professional development workshops going on during convention, Barry Brandt, athletics director at Northwestern (Iowa), followed-up on awards and Dennis Green, NAIA championship manager, provided the National Office report. Gary Humenik and Erik McDowell both representing CoSIDA also met with the ADA . Lori Thomas and Lori Joseph, of the NAIA National Office, provided updates on championships and direct qualification, conduct and competition, membership initiatives and marketing and communication. On Monday evening Gary Picone, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), will receive the NAIA Athletics Director of the Year award at the NAIA Awards Banquet.
NAIA Exhibit Hall Opens
The exhibit hall at NAIA Convention, open on Sunday and Monday afternoon, is an integral part of our offerings and features NAIA national sponsors like Career Athletes, Rawlings, Mutual of Omaha and Jostens.
NAIA Annual Luncheon: Dan Sanders delivers keynote address
Bestselling author and former NAIA baseball pitcher Dan Sanders stated everything rises or falls based on leadership in his keynote address during the NAIA Annual Luncheon. The event, sponsored by Design Display, took place on Sunday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo. The former Lubbock Christian (Texas) Chaparral told an audience of about 400 people that his college coach, Larry Hays, had a spirit of humility which fueled tremendous character and commitment to doing.
"I chose to play baseball at Lubbock Christian because Larry Hays cared more about me as a person than a baseball player," said Sanders. "Lessons learned watching Larry have paid dividends time and time again."
In the spirit of doing Sanders donated his speaker honorarium to the NAIA in honor of his college baseball coach Larry Hays.
Thank you...
A big thank you to the American Red Cross, American Midwest Conference and the Heart of America Athletic Conference for hosting an evening reception at the World War I Museum. Commissioners Lowell Pitzer and Larry Lady welcomed guests and Ottawa (Kan.) student-athlete Casey Wieder and Bethel (Ind.) graduate Cam Branock highlighted the American Red Cross-NAIA Collegiate Leadership Program. Kristin Gillette and Lori Thomas presented the Champions of Character program before guests enjoyed a catered reception.