Make Waves Wednesday with Athletics Director Kirby Garry

Season Opener for Men's and Women's Cross Country
Men's and Women's Cross Country opens their competitive season on the road this weekend at Cal State San Bernardino and then returns home to host our first invitational at the new Palo Corona Cross Country Course in Carmel. A home race is long overdue for our teams. It's been over 10 years since we hosted a cross country meet at CSUMB. Next week's race will be a preview of the CCAA Cross Country Championships also scheduled to run at Palo Corona on Saturday, November 5th. More to share on these exciting local events next week!


Results from the Raft 
Women's Soccer has won two in a row, with victories on the road at Dominican University and at home over Academy of Art University. Volleyball finished their trip to Colorado with a 2-2 record at the Steel City Showcase hosted by CSU-Pueblo. Men's soccer earned a draw with Holy Names University in their home opener before falling to Domincan University on a late penalty kick.

View the list of our future scheduled events, broadcast information, start times and stat links on our composite calendar.
 

California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) 



As we open conference play in Volleyball this weekend, I thought it would be good to remind everyone of our conference affiliation. We are proud members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The CCAA consists of 12 Cal State Universities, located across the state of California from Humboldt in the north to San Marcos in the south. The level of competition in the CCAA is elite. Historically the CCAA owns 155 National Championships, by far the most of any NCAA DII Conference in the nation. When we are competing in the top third of our conference standings that typically means we are in strong contention for NCAA tournament qualification. I look forward to updating you on CCAA news and notes throughout the year, like this next part below :) 
 

CCAA Executive Council Meetings (via Zoom) Tuesday and Wednesday 
The CCAA Executive Council consists of the Athletic Director, Senior Woman Administrator and Faculty Athletics Representative from each of the 12 CCAA members. We meet to discuss and vote on variety of topics including awards, scheduling and policy changes while also connecting around important initiatives such as recent CCAA partnerships with WeCOACH and the US Council for Athletes Health.

By the time this is posted, we will be finishing up our second and final day of Executive Council meetings. The 12 CCAA Athletics Directors will also have a meeting with the CCAA Board later this month. The CCAA Board, consisting of the President from each member institution, is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of the conference commissioner and conference operations. I'll update you on the topics and highlights of these governance meetings in future weeks.
 

Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)
One of the foundational principles within NCAA Intercollegiate Athletics is the role that the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) serves in the governance structure. SAAC reps at the institutional, conference and national level represent student-athlete interests in Division I, II and III affairs. 

I'm excited to announce that our MB SAAC will be led this year by co-presidents Isabel Carpenter (Women's Golf) and Samiya Terry (Women's Basketball). Both are emerging leaders in our department that are committed to engaging with their fellow student-athletes and increasing participation from all our teams in SAAC activities. Staff and coach liaisons for this year are Athletics Coordinator, Meredith Kelly, and Assistant Water Polo Coach, Morgan Tucker. Our first official SAAC meeting of the academic year happened yesterday (Tuesday) so expect  updates on our SAAC priorities and activities soon!
 

Celebrate MB Spirit, Sport Your MB Colors and Share Your Photos



I'm thrilled to share this photo of the new Make Waves banners installed this week along 2nd Avenue. The new installations provide needed university branding along our campus perimeter with great action shots celebrating our MB student-athletes. These specific MB Athletics inspired banners are part of a campus wide project to improve signage and branding. Special thank you to Stacey Hadland from Campus Planning, the Campus Signage Committee and University leadership for the investment in this signage and branding initiative around campus. We also need to give a big shout out to Monterey Signs for bringing this concept to life at CSUMB.

We want to select YOUR photos each week to feature in this blog. Celebrate MB Spirit, Sport Your MB Colors and post on social media using the hashtag #MakeWavesMB! Tweet your photos to us at @OtterAthletics or tag us on Instagram @OtterAthletics using the hashtag #MakeWavesMB. You can also email your photos directly to us at athletics@csumb.edu.
 

Schedule of Events This Week

9/9	Women's Soccer at Saint Martin's University	3:00pm	Lacey, WA
9/9	Volleyball vs Cal Poly Pomona	5:00pm	Otter Sports Center
9/10	M/W Cross Country at CSUSB Coyote Challenge		San Bernardino, CA
9/10	Volleyball vs CSU San Bernardino	5:00pm	Otter Sports Center
9/11	Women's Soccer at Western Oregon	12:00pm	Monmouth, OR
9/12	Men's Soccer vs Hawaii-Hilo	5:00pm	Otter Sports Complex

Bold = Home 

Thank you for all that you do in support of Otter Athletics!

1. Buy Tickets and Cheer for Your Otters

2. Donate to the Otter Athletics Fund

3. Shop MB Merchandise 

4. Sport Your MB Colors and Share on Social Media (hashtag #MakeWavesMB)

5. Ask / Motivate Others To Do The Same!

Let's Go Otters!

Kirby Garry

Athletics Director 
 

PS: This weekly blog will be delivered as an email newsletter beginning next week. Please subscribe today! 

Previous week's blog posts:

• Week 2; 8/31/22
• Week 1: 8/24/22