MIAA Continues Participation in NCAA Division III Identity Initiative

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association is continuing to highlight its student-athletes, coaches, and institutions in December with a series of stories on its Web site in conjunction with the NCAA Division III identity initiative.

These stories tell how MIAA student-athletes, teams and coaches exemplify attributes of the identity initiative on the athletic field, in the classroom, and in their communities. The six attributes featured in the initiative are proportion, comprehensive learning, passion, responsibility, sportsmanship and citizenship.

Here are some of the stories you will find on the MIAA Web site (www.miaa.org/d3identity) for this month:

Proportion – Over the last four years, the key for opposing teams to beat Calvin College on the volleyball court has been to stop senior middle hitter Rebecca Kamp. Unfortunately for opposing teams, Kamp was nearly unstoppable for the Knights this season and throughout her career. This fall she averaged 3.85 kills and 1.37 blocks-per-set along with a .401 hitting percentage while leading the Knights to 33-1 overall record. She completed her career as Calvin’s all-time leader in kills and total blocks while also establishing a school single-season record for hitting percentage.

Comprehensive Learning – Albion College students are noted for their ability to juggle their academic and extracurricular pursuits, though the balancing act performed by Andy Bieber and Evan Malecke this fall may stand alone. Both concentrating in the Carl A. Gerstacker Institute for Business and Management, they went to class until about 4 p.m. each day when they would go to practice or matches as midfielders for the Albion’s men’s soccer team.

Passion – As a child growing up in Grosse Pointe, Mich., Mark Ghafari loved playing sports of all kinds, but basketball was always his favorite. Being part of a close knit team was one of the things he loved most about basketball and it satisfied his competitive nature. Ghafari played three sports in high school, but his dream was always to continue to play basketball at the college level. His competitive drive, which he developed early on, helped him pursue and achieve his dream of playing basketball in college, now as a sophomore guard at Kalamazoo College.

Sportsmanship – On Wednesday, October 26, there was more than the average amount of purple on the field at the Saint Mary's-Albion women's soccer game at the Belles' home field. To the casual observer, it would have appeared that two teams with purple were squaring off on a neutral site. However, the Saint Mary’s soccer team was donning purple t-shirts during their pregame warm up to help raise awareness for domestic violence.

Citizenship – For athletes at every MIAA member college, participating in Division III sport goes beyond just playing the game. For example, this past fall there were abundant opportunities for Hope College soccer players to interact with elementary-age students. A custom at Hope home soccer games is the participation of youth soccer players in the pre-game activities. The youth players accompany players from both teams on to the field for the introductions and playing of the National Anthem.

We invite you to consider doing stories on these student-athletes and coaches, and to contact the school for more details about them.

Courtesy of MIAA