2023 NCAA CONVENTION PHOTO ALBUM
In early January 2023, two student-athletes along with Director of Athletics J.J. Antoine, made the trek to San Antonio, Texas, to take part in the 2023 NCAA Convention. These two individuals, Madeline Brown and Cree Bass, were nominated by members of the Salem Department of Athletics staff based off of their contributions to the sport and opportunity to grow professionally through the experience.
Brown is a member of the Salem softball team and is majoring in business and pursuing a minor in coaching with aspirations of becoming a college softball coach and athletic director. She came to Salem College after graduating from Thomson High School in 2020, where she was named Region Player of the Year as a senior. She was also recognized as a Second Team All-Region performer following both her freshman and sophomore seasons, reaching two Regional Championships and one Sweet Sixteen in four Georgia State Championship Tournament appearances. Over the last two seasons at Salem, Brown has amassed 34 hits, eight doubles, seven RBI, one triple and one home run. She is a lifetime .321 hitter with a cumulative .443 slugging percentage and a .321 batting average.
Bass is a two-sport standout at Salem, playing on both the softball and basketball teams in each of the last two seasons. She is majoring in exercise science, minoring in coaching, with the desire to become a personal trainer and coach for an NCAA Division I program or professional team upon graduation. After graduating from Maiden High School in 2020, where she was a two-sport athlete that competed in both basketball and soccer, Bass attended Montreat College for one year (2020-21) before transferring to Salem. On the hardwoods, Bass has played in 45 games, making 24 starts along the way. She has knocked down 132-of-364 field goals (36.3%), including 54-of-190 (28.4%) from beyond the arc. Bass capped off the 2022-23 campaign as the program's 10th-best 3-point shooter in program history. On the diamond, she has delivered 24 hits, four doubles and accounted for 11 RBI and 11 runs.
For anyone that doesn't know either Brown or Bass, they are two of the most unselfish student-athletes that could ever compete. The pair are always willing to lend a helping hand to their teammates and classmates, whether it be on the field or in study hall areas throughout the Athletic Department buildings. They are always sharing laughs and smiling when around one another, greeting everyone that crosses their path with a smile and a quick 'hello.'
Being able to see them compete first-hand, while serving as the Director of Athletic Communications and Marketing at Salem, there are two moments that will always stand out with each of them. Brown's came the day after hitting her first collegiate home run against Eastern Mennonite on March 5th of this season. After jokingly asking 'did ESPN call you about interviewing you for your home run?', Brown simply replied, "no, I honestly was happier that (teammate) Savanah Atkins hit her first than I was hitting mine. She has been through so much here the last few seasons, I was happy for her."
As for Bass, having seen her make the quick transition from basketball to softball as a player has been an experience all to itself. Bass will undoubtedly go down in Salem's NCAA Division III history as one of the top two-sport athletes to ever play here. Once, while walking to softball practice, she was approached by Salem tennis coach Ed Steele about the possibility of playing tennis. While she casually said 'it is not really my sport,' she quickly proceeded to take 10 minutes of her time and rally back-and-forth in a practice gym without effort. Her effortless motion in both basketball and softball as drawn a number of breathtaking moments, including a recent diving catch in the outfield that was ESPN Top-10 worthy.
However, the pair have always put team-building and program-building in front of personal accolades during their time at Salem, earning them a spot at the 2023 NCAA Convention.
"The NCAA Convention was a great experience," said Brown. "I meet a lot of new people, made friendships, learned new things, and I grew as a person and leader. Going to this convention helped me learn how to be a more effective leader. It taught me that everyone has different strengths as a person and a leader. This does not make how they lead wrong or how you lead wrong but just simply different. It is important to know your strengths as a leader and how to use them effectively.
"I also learned how this plays into how you communicate with others," continued Brown. "Everyone does not process and understand information the same therefore it is important to understand the person you are talking to and how you should approach them. It makes communication with others so much easier when you understand where they are coming from and how they process information."
Bass, like Brown, shared a greater appreciation for the Salem College campus after attending the NCAA Convention. "The NCAA Convention that I attended in San Antonio was a great experience," exclaimed Bass. "I learned about a lot of things, like the disc assessment. It taught me how to react to people considering how they think; this will help me with my career in the future. I also got to attend the voting session for the USA South Conference, which consisted of all the athletic directors and presidents from some schools voting on what we would like to see in our conference."
"Going to the convention made me want to come back and do a lot more for the Salem community, specifically within athletics, like re-implementing Student-Athletes Advisory Committee (SAAC)," described Bass. "We want to bring back SAAC and have it play an important role in Salem athletics. SAAC is something that has not been very active during my time here at Salem, so I want to help lead it and hold fun events for all of the Salem family to attend."
Realizing that they will be looked upon to provide senior leadership roles with Salem softball next year, both Brown and Bass also discovered ways to better communicate with their teammates and classmates with the NCAA Convention workshops and experience.
"It helped me as I have come back to Salem and the softball," Brown elaborated. "I try to get to know those around me and how they best receive information so that I can deliver it in a manner that is effective. I have sought to communicate in different ways depending on what the situation or person need and this has seemed to be successful. It has helped me grow as a leader and be better for those around me. I plan to continue to apply this to my life in general, to seek to understand those around me and how I can be what they need me to be. I think these skills I learned and how the convention has helped me grow will help me to be successful in my goal of being a college coach one day. I understand that one size does not fit all, and I am learning how to adapt to what the situation at hand needs."
"Being a Division III student athlete has taught me a few things," said Bass. "For example, how you do not have to go to a Division I or Division II college to be noticed. Division III is just as competitive as any other division or even more. I like how Salem is an open community and small campus where you know everyone and are always welcome. Being at Salem has taught me a lot of life skills within my major and in sports that I will be able to use in my future."