Fifth Annual Field Day a HUGE Success!
Sunday, April 12 was an amazing day in Pittsburgh and most notably on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University as 75 boys and girls from the community spent a few hours bonding with Tartan student-athletes as part of the annual Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) Field Day. The children, who ranged in age from 5-12, were offered mini-clinics in football, soccer, track and field and basketball.
It was the fifth annual Carnegie Mellon Athletics Field Day, which was developed by former football and track and field athlete Liam McGrath. A mathematics major, McGrath put together the Field Day after working with children in sports camps during a few of his summers.
Many members of the Carnegie Mellon faculty and staff brought their children to the Field Day, as did a number of mentors from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, as the participant field nearly doubled from 2014 thanks to the efforts of co-organizers Ben Neiman and Rekha Schnepf.
“Field Day was a huge success this year as Rekha and I really focused on getting a much larger turnout than in our first year as coordinators,” said co-organizer Ben Neiman. “Seventy-five kids came this year which is Field Day’s largest turnout ever! We were so excited to see so many kids having fun and bonding with our student-athletes on a beautiful day at Carnegie Mellon.”
Director of Athletics Josh Centor advises the Carnegie Mellon SAAC and was excited to see such a positive turnout once again for the Field Day.
“There were a lot of smiles and laughter on Sunday, and it was a privilege to be part of such a special event,” Centor said. “The Field Day has a become a great tradition, and I am proud of the efforts our student-athletes make to have such a significant impact on children in our community.”