NEW ORLEANS – Sun Belt Conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) leaders conducted community engagement initiatives centered on mentorship during the Spring 2026 semester.
 
SAAC organizations encouraged student-athletes to give back and connect with their surrounding communities by fostering meaningful mentorship and personal development with local youths. The initiatives empowered student-athletes to use their unique experiences, visibility, and leadership roles to positively impact the next generation.
 
A list of those mentorship initiatives can be found below:
 
App State
Initiative: ISF Field Day, Watauga County Schools
Date: March 24, 2026
Involved Sports: Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, Cheer, Cross Country, Field Hockey, Football
Description: ISF field day is a community focused event at App State. Mountaineer student-athletes volunteered at local Watauga County schools, and during the event, they put together several games and activities for kids to participate.
 
Coastal Carolina
Initiative: Teal Youth Day - Dalton & Linda Floyd Family Mentoring Program, Horry County Schools
Date: April 17, 2026
Involved Sports: All Sports
Description: Chanticleer SAAC used Teal Youth Day as an opportunity to inspire and mentor local middle school students by encouraging them to explore their passions through the “Follow Your Spark” theme. By engaging directly with students, student-athletes hope to serve as positive role models, promote confidence and goal setting, and demonstrate the value of hard work, education, and leadership.


 
Georgia Southern
Initiative: Read Across America Week, Bullouch Academy
Date: March 2-6, 2026
Involved Sports: All Sports
Description: Georgia Southern student-athletes connected with youth readers through a week-long Read Across America event that helps promote mentorship and community engagement. By having athletes read with students and emphasize the importance of education, they inspired a love for reading, built meaningful relationships, and showed younger students that success in both academics and athletics goes hand-in-hand.
 
Georgia State
Initiative: KIPP Soul Mentorship Program, Kipp Soul Primary School and Academy
Date: March 9 - April 13
Involved Sports: Men’s and Women’s Basketball
Description: Georgia State SAAC partnered with the kids on multiple occasions to help them learn more about the sports that interest them. The KIPP Soul basketball Mentorship program is focused on helping young kids that are interested in the game of basketball. The Panthers’ men and women's basketball teams helped coach practices on Mondays and built bonds with the students hoping to create a brother/sister bond as role models.
 
James Madison
Initiative: Run Harrisonburg
Date: March 29, April 12, April 19
Involved Sports: All Sports
Description: Run Harrisonburg, as part of the Run Your City initiative, seeks to establish a structured and inclusive environment in which all children have equitable access to the benefits of sport through running. Its primary objective is to remove barriers to participation by offering free, team-based programming supported by collegiate athletes and community volunteers.
 
Louisiana
Initiative: Reading Across America at Northside High School Heritage Assembly, Dr. Raphael A. Baranco Elementary School and Northside High School
Date: February 27 and March 2
Involved Sports: Track and Field, Soccer, Softball
Description: Ragin’ Cajun student-athletes started at Barraco Elementary for Dr. Seuss's birthday, reading to the students and providing them with the book that was read. This was their version of reading in red, as every athlete wore red while reading to them. For the Northside high school heritage assembly, SAAC President Caemon Scott spoke about being from Lafayette and how youths can one day make an impact on college campuses.


 
Marshall
Initiative: Read Across America Participation; ACS Month of Service; Highlawn Elementary School and Cox Landing Elementary School
Date: March 6 and March 23
Involved Sports: All Sports
Description: Marshall student-athletes served as positive role models for local youth by visiting elementary schools to read with students during “Read to Me Week”. Student-athletes encouraged a love of learning and demonstrated leadership beyond athletics. This initiative strengthened a relationship with the Huntington community while giving student-athletes a chance to mentor younger students through simple, impactful interactions.
 
Old Dominion
Initiative: Run the City, Run Your City
Date: March 22 and March 29, April 12, April 19 and April 26
Involved Sports: All Sports
Description: ODU student-athletes led free, team-centered running practices and races for kids of all abilities between kindergarten and eighth grade. Run Your City is a national nonprofit organization committed to creating an inclusive community where every child can grow into a healthy and confident individual.
 
South Alabama
Initiative: Community Outreach to Fonde, St. Elmo’s and Meadowlake Elementary Schools
Date: Feb. 26, March 12 and April 10
Involved Sports: Soccer, Softball, Football, Basketball
Description: Impacted the Mobile community through intentional time spent with local elementary school classes. The experience enhanced the student-athlete understanding of the importance of their involvement in the community as well as the lasting impact they can have on the children that they connect with. Additionally, the softball team served as semester-long pen pals with girls of all ages from elementary school to high school. We write letters about once a month just checking in, getting to know them, motivating them, etc. I feel like it had impacted our team by giving us a different perspective. We write to girls who may be going through tough times, lack confidence, need a mentor/older sister, etc. Our team sees how much just writing back to a little girl can make their day or week by giving them an extra push of inspiration and motivation.


 
Southern Miss
Initiative: Reading at Local Schools; Community Impact with Family YMCA; Healthy Kids Day; Rawls Elementary School; Bellevue Elementary; Family YMCA of Southeast Mississippi; Traction Sports Mississippi
Date: March 1 - April 5 and April 18
Involved Sports: Football, Volleyball, Tennis
Description: Healthy Kids Day served as a free, community-wide event focused on promoting active play, healthy habits and a safe start to the summer season for children and families. Student-athletes attending the event inspired and engaged kids including signing autographs, throwing a football or baseball and interacting with their families.


 
Troy
Initiative: Miracle League Baseball Game, Miracle League
Date: April 2026
Involved Sports: All Sports
Description: Miracle league is a yearly event where Troy student-athletes from all teams come together to volunteer at a baseball game for local Miracle League children. The event takes place at Riddle Pace Field - the university’s baseball stadium.