By Fred Balsamo, CAAD Executive Director

On March 27-28, over 215 athletic directors and 62 exhibitors attended the 30th Annual CAAD Conference at the Sheraton Hartford South Hotel in Rocky Hill. This conference continues to be one of the most valuable professional development experiences for athletic directors, whether they are 25-year veterans or brand new to the profession.

On the evening of March 26th, CAAD offered two NIAAA LTC professional development courses. On Thursday, March 27th, the day began for the high school ADs with the CIAC staff delivering a 2-hour workshop on the current rules and regulations governing our sports. Concurrently, the middle school attendees were in a workshop dealing with middle school issues and received training on the new middle school module for coaches.

The keynote speaker later that day was Brian Cain who spoke about motivation and how to get the most out of oneself and one’s coaches. There were three “nuts and bolts” workshops given that afternoon dealing with round table topics, the SEED evaluation process and the NIAAA certification levels. The evening concluded with the annual awards banquet where CAAD honored four outstanding individuals for their service to the students in Connecticut. Dave Sousa, the athletic administrator at Waterford High School, received CAAD’s highest honor – the Distinguished Service Award. Merit Awards were given to Dan Scavone from Berlin High School and Jon Capone of West Haven High School. Community service recognition was given to State Representative Paul Davis for his continued support of athletic directors. Additionally, six outstanding Connecticut students were presented with NIAAA Scholarship Essay Grants. Nicole Graham of Greenwich High School and William Robinson of Stonington won top honors and will advance to the regional competition.

On Friday, March 28th, Attorney Tom Mooney of Shipman & Goodman spoke about student behaviors on the Internet and what action schools can take to prevent problems. The rest of the morning included the unveiling of this year’s new coaching education module, “Mod 19 – The Impact of Ethical Standards on Youth.” Every CAAD member in attendance was trained as a statewide faculty member licensed to teach this course to his/her own staff. The day drew to a close with a general meeting hosted by CAAD President Brian Fell followed by a league-based door prize drawing which concluded the conference on a festive note.

Conference Evaluation (based on a scale of 1.0-4.0, with 4.0 being the highest score)
Once again the conference evaluations were extremely favorable and many thanks go out to everyone who helped in the planning and coordination. CAAD continues to improve the conference in many areas which didn’t seem possible. Scores this high demonstrate CAAD’s commitment to excellence and provide a tremendous challenge for years to come. The results of the conference evaluations are as follows:

1. Conference Registration – 3.95
2. Conference Format – 3.9
3. Conference Organization & Details – 3.95
4. Hotel Service – 3.9
5. Hotel Accommodations – 3.8
6. Hotel Meals:
Thursday Lunch – 3.75
Thursday Banquet – 3.9
Friday Breakfast – 3.9
Friday Lunch – 3.9
7. CIAC Workshop – 3.8
Middle School Workshop – 3.9
8. CAAD Annual Meeting – 3.7
9. General Session (Tunney) – 3.8

10. Workshops:
Round Table – 3.8
SEED – 3.9
NIAAA Certification – 3.8
11. Awards Banquet – 3.9
12. Breakfast Meeting – 3.9
13. Statewide Faculty – 3.8
14. Closing Meeting- 3.8