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NCAA and NFL Partner on Inaugural Life Skills and Professional Development Summit

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Contact(s)

Gail Dent
Associate Director of Public and Media Relations
317/917-6117



INDIANAPOLIS--- The NCAA and the National Football League will partner this week to host an inaugural summit with league and athletics administrators that focuses on related issues and topics that affect former NCAA student-athletes who play in the NFL and current student-athletes on college campuses.   The summit is Feb. 10-12 (Thursday-Saturday) in Orlando, Fla.

The summit will address the role of campus life skills coordinators and league player development directors, both charged with handling an array of issues that affect athletes.   Topics that will be discussed include career and personal development, which includes life after sports and personal and professional branding; issues surrounding social media and the internet; financial and professional literacy, which includes money management, gambling and agent issues; and athlete wellness, to include handling drug and alcohol issues, athlete pressures and crisis and grief management.

In addition to discussing and identifying issues, the group will also work to create solutions that could be effective in both the league and on college campuses.   The summit will address the disconnects and challenges that current and former NCAA student-athletes face and possible synergies between the NFL and NCAA.   The life skills administrators and player development directors will learn how to develop effective curriculums that address issues and how to facilitate the programs with their athletes.  There will also be keynote speakers during the three-day conference.

“The summit presents an excellent opportunity for the NCAA and NFL to address some issues that affect athletes at the collegiate level, as well as once they leave school and enter the professional ranks,” said Robert Vowels, NCAA vice president of student-athlete affairs.  “We have learned that many of the issues that occur in college with student-athletes also occur in the NFL.  Bringing athletics administrators and player development personnel together to discuss the issues may assist with identifying possible solutions and best practices in how to handle the issues once they occur whether at the collegiate or professional level.”

In addition to the summit, the NCAA and NFL are also partnering to host football academies for individuals who have expressed an interest in becoming a head football coach at NCAA colleges and universities, Feb. 13-16 in Orlando.   The NCAA will provide networking and development opportunities at its 2011 football academy, while the NFL will host its inaugural academy that will provide programming for former NCAA student-athletes who are now in the league and nearing retirement or athletes who are now retired and have expressed an interest in possibly becoming an NCAA football coach in the future.