FARMINGTON – University of Maine at Farmington women’s basketball junior Elizabeth Ferry (Winslow, Maine/Winslow) has plenty of passion and pride for UMaine-Farmington – as much as any of her teammates, or any of the other nearly 200 Beaver student-athletes.
She simply wants them, as well as every other student-athlete in the North Atlantic Conference, to take pride in their conference too.
Ferry will have the opportunity to drive that message home over the next 12 months as the newly-elected president of the North Atlantic Conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Ferry began her one-year term as the group’s president on July 1, 2014.
“I think getting people excited about being part of our conference is important,” said Ferry. “Everybody takes pride in their school, but you don’t really see people taking pride in the conference.”
Ferry was elected to the role of NAC SAAC president at the group’s meeting in York Harbor, Maine, on April 6, with representatives from all 10 NAC institutions, as well as the NAC athletics directors and conference commissioner Julie Muller. A junior secondary education major with a concentration in English, Ferry was one of nine candidates for the position.
The Winslow, Maine, native is a member of the UMaine-Farmington women’s basketball team, and served as president of UMF’s SAAC during her sophomore year.
“During my candidacy speech, I talked about how for all of us the student-athlete experience means so much and I wanted to help promote the accomplishments of the NAC’s student-athletes on every campus,” said Ferry.
Over the course of the 2014-15 academic year, Ferry will preside over at least two annual SAAC meetings. She will also attend conference gatherings of athletics directors and other stakeholder groups, as well as the 2015 NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C., next January, to give voice to the concerns of the approximately 2000 student-athletes in the North Atlantic Conference.
“The leadership role is huge,” said Ferry. “I have everyone in the conference looking to me as the person responsible for carrying the message of the student-athletes of the NAC to our conference leadership and the NCAA. That’s very important. There’s quite a bit of pressure with that – but it’s not a bad pressure at all.”
“This will be a tremendous learning opportunity for Elizabeth, and a chance to further enhance and develop her already strong leadership skills,” said Julie Davis, UMaine-Farmington athletics director. “UMaine-Farmington has a history of providing leadership within the conference SAAC group, and I’m proud to see Elizabeth continuing this tradition.”
On the basketball court, Ferry is still coming into her own as a player. She averaged 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in 2013-14 as a sophomore, and was third in the team in both categories.
However she peaked with a 16-point performance on the road at Colby to open the second half of her sophomore season, and capped the 2013-14 campaign with three straight double-digit scoring performances – the first such stretch of her career – and shot .591 from the field during that span, hopefully setting the stage for even greater success this coming year as a junior.
“Elizabeth continues to take her game to the next level with her tireless work ethic and attention to detail. Over the first two years in our program she has improved in every statistical category, and she is a great competitor with a high basketball IQ,” said Jamie Beaudoin, UMaine-Farmington’s head women’s basketball coach. “Elizabeth is a leader amongst our student-athletes, a mentor and role model for our community, and an excellent ambassador for the University. “
Congratulations Liz!!!
GO BEAVERS