Fairport, NY—The Sage Colleges' had five members of the Gator community attend the 2020 Empire 8 Conference Student-Athlete Leadership Summit on Friday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020 from Woodcliff Hotel and Spa in Fairport, NY. In addition, to Sage's student-athletes and Director of Athletics, the Gators were joined by conference members and their respective student-athlete leaders at the event as well as commissioner Chuck Mitrano, Associate Commissioner Joe Venniro and special guest. Will Heininger.

Heininger, the Outreach Coordinator for Mental Health at the University of Michigan Depression Center was the keynote speaker for the event. This year's Summit focused on bringing together members of the higher education community from around the conference (student-athletes, Administrators, Coaches and Vice-Presidents) in a fun and educational environment away from campus.

One of the student-athlete in attendance from Sage was senior golf team and men's tennis team member Tyler Schnaible (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa). Schnaible, who is also president of Sage's S.A.A.C., commented, "The Empire 8 SAAC Summit was an awesome experience!"

Heininger was a four-year letterman for the University of Michigan Football team from 2008-2011, who publicly shared his story of overcoming major depression and anxiety while playing for the Wolverines and excelling as a student-athlete. After successful treatment, Heininger went on to thrive at U of M, graduating as a four-time letterman in football, a 4-time Academic All-Big Ten award winner, and twice a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.

In 2014, Heininger helped found and launch the Athletes Connected program at UM, a comprehensive program that supports student-athlete mental health and wellbeing. Will works with the Outreach & Education team at the Depression Center to deliver relatable mental health education, and improve outcomes in populations such as schools, businesses, athletic departments, teams, and communities.

Summit attendees also took part in a presentation by John Rigney, Senior Counselor/Outreach Coordinator in Health and Counseling Services from Nazareth College on mental health education, which is the theme of the 2020 Empire 8 Student-Athlete Summit.

"I'm thrilled that the Empire 8 Conference is focusing on student-athlete mental health at its Leadership Summit," said Heininger. "Personally, learning about my mental health – including how to get professional help and maintain mental fitness – was key in unlocking my full potential as a student and an athlete. When student-athletes are developed holistically, they are more likely to be successful short- and long-term, because they are more likely have skills to successfully navigate the challenges life throws at them, during and after college. From recognizing stress, to regulating their emotions, to responding to adversity – these tools will serve them well in current, and future, endeavors."

In addition to the presentations, the student-athletes also participated in the Minute-to-Win-it challenge and each school made donation of Pop Tabs to the Ronald McDonald House.

Schnaible continued, "The main theme of all the discussion was mental health, which can be a sensitive subject, but was intended to create a lot of healthy conversation among all of the attendees. We have all learned several things about mental health whether it be symptoms, behaviors, or how to help someone with this condition. The key note speaker was great and his story is very inspiring. The fact that he can share his experience is admirable. As always it is great to be with students from other schools, it just further creates new friendships and connections. I truly thank Joe Venniro, Chuck Mitrano, and all the other Empire 8 School Advisors who put in the work to make this event possible!"

Sage's sophomore Alexandra Lettre (Kingston, NY/Kingston), a member of the field hockey and women's lacrosse teams at Sage noted, "This weekend's Empire 8 SAAC Summit was an amazing opportunity to interact with other student-athletes as well as learn more about mental health and how important it is to talk about it more in athletics." She added, "The skills I learned are some that I can share with my teammates at Sage and I feel will benefit our school's environment greatly."

Junior men's golf team member Blake Pritchard (Malone, NY/Franklin Academy) noted, "I learned a lot about mental health this past weekend." He remarked, "It was a great experience and I really benefit from learning about mental health and how it affects people. Overall, the summit was an awesome time. I also enjoyed meeting new people from each of the Empire 8 institutions and hearing what they had to say about mental health."

A member of Sage's women's soccer team, sophomore Angela Gonzalez (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) also attended the weekend retreat. "I personally really loved the summit!" Gonzalez continued, "I thought the speaker really connected with us, especially since he understood the struggles of being an athlete in college and how many people think about mental health. Being able to learn not just how to deal with mental illness but how to help your teammates or just people in your life with it, is incredible. "

Gonzalez added, "I connected with a lot of people at the summit as well. One of the other attendees, a student-athlete from Utica, Katrina, and I really hit it off and have been keeping in touch. And my roommate and I got along great, as well.  It was really nice to meet people off the field, and being able to share this experience with everyone."