Over winter break, Penn State Harrisburg received the opportunity to send two student-athletes to the NCAA convention to get a taste of how legislation is passed through the NCAA. 

Josh Africa, who plays on the men’s golf team, and Kylee Altland, who plays on the women’s soccer team, were the two students from Harrisburg that gained the opportunity to fly out to San Antonio to represent the United East. They were accompanied by two other athletes from Penn State Abington. 

“It was an honor to be able to represent the conference and Penn State Harrisburg,” Altland said, “it’s something that I didn’t take very lightly”.

The pair was able to sit in on leadership symposiums and travel around Texas in their free time. Altland and Africa also took time out of their busy schedule to visit the Alamo. In addition, Josh Africa was reportedly starting up his American Idol career as he took part in karaoke one night.  

Altland mentioned how they were able to attend student-athlete seminars including Maggie Tieman to learn how to adapt personality styles to lead a team better. She added that the pair went to different luncheons, many discussions about the philosophy of Division III.

The duo participated in discussions that involved how to find the best way for the offseason and what that should look like for Division III athletes. 

According to the United East, sending athletes to San Antonio meant that the four athletes could network with other Division III athletes. The athletes attended meetings and debriefs and other Division III programing. 

One meeting that was highlighted by the United East was the goal to build a “pipeline of talented ethnic minority candidates” to coach or be administrators in Division III. 

The chance to be involved in legislation for the NCAA can be seen as a once in a lifetime opportunity and Africa and Altland took advantage of that opportunity.