June 9, 2006
LOGAN, Utah -- Utah State men's golfer Preston Otte represented the school at the NCAA Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla., May 28-June 1.
The NCAA holds a leadership conference once a year in Orlando. The NCAA Leadership Conference provides NCAA student-athletes with a forum to openly discuss issues that may affect them on their campuses and in their communities, while also providing them with the opportunity to enhance their leadership, communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills. The leadership conference also promotes better communication among student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty and communities. The five-day leadership conference consists of daily exercises and activities to help the student-athletes develop as individuals and as contributing members to a group.
"It was just a fantastic experience," Otte said. "I had talked to fellow SAAC member and football player, Malik Cin, who had gone before and gotten an idea of what it would be like, but it was much better than I thought it would be. I wish all the student-athletes could go. To see the diverse culture, with everyone coming from different backgrounds to come together and share and learn together was just an incredible experience."
Otte, a native of Burley, Idaho (Burley HS), also has been elected president of the USU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), after spending the past year on the USU SAAC board, a 20-member committee consisting of at least one student-athlete representing each of USU's 16 sports.
"One of the main things I learned was how to deal with and accept the different personalities that exist and how I can become a better leader, a better teammate and a better friend," Otte said.
SAAC is a committee made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC alsooffers input on the rules, regulations and polices that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses.
"Preston is a great young man and he's been a major contributor to the SAAC board," said Mary Ellen Cloninger, Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator and SAAC advisor. "He's always willing to step up and go above and beyond of what's asked of him. He leads by working himself, not just talking about it. We're just really excited for him and know he'll do a great job."
Otte is also involved in Utah State's CHAMPS/Life Skills program. "CHAMPS" stands for Challenging Athlete's Minds for Personal Success. USU's CHAMPS/ Life Skills program is excited to implement a CHAMPS Life Skills Competition among its student-athletes. The competition is designed to strengthen the student-athlete in all five commitment areas of CHAMPS, academics, athletics, personal development, career development and community service. Student-athletes and coaches are awarded points for participating in any of the following categories; teams for teams, scholarly success, community outreach, personal enhancement, professional development, SAAC communication and athletic excellence.
"We're extremely excited that Preston represented Utah State at the NCAA Leadership Conference," said Amy Crosbie, USU Student-Athlete Services Academic Advisor/ Life Skills Coordinator. "With his role as SAAC President, we're anxious to see how he implements things he learned at the conference here among the student-athletes."
Otte has plans on how to improve things among the Aggie student-athletes, implementing an action plan with the assistance of his fellow SAAC officers, vice president, gymnast Alex Martin, and secretary Erin Manning of the women's tennis team.
"I hope that we can improve the communication between SAAC and the student-athletes, making them more aware and getting them more involved with activities, not just athletics, but related to the whole institution and community," Otte said.
This past spring, Otte helped USU to an eighth-place finish at the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships, finishing tied for 33rd. Otte's best finish of the spring was a ninth-place finish at the Cal State Northridge Cullum Intercollegiate Tournament. For the year, Otte had a 74 average, with a season-low 69 at the Boise State Bronco Roundup.
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