EPIC duo to educate ADs, compliance staff at NCAA Convention in Nashville

Awareness of gambling-related harm issues affecting student-athletes will be a regular topic of conversation among key delegates at this week’s NCAA Convention in Nashville, TN, thanks to two members of EPIC Global Solutions’ lived experience team.

Patrick Chester and Greg Weber, two of our engaging consultants who regularly deliver problem gambling education sessions at NCAA colleges, will be present at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center for the January 14-17 event, with decision-makers from colleges across the US sitting down to learn about the issue thanks to our lived experience-based approach.

Chester, who has taken a key leadership and mentoring role for the benefit of other lived experience staff during his first two years with the organization, has two speaking engagements during the week.

His first commitment on Wednesday afternoon is to address the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association Compliance Administrators (D2 CCACA); a subgroup of the Division II Conference Commissioners Association which serves as a distribution network of compliance information from the NCAA and as additional support for Conference Compliance administrators.

By sharing excerpts from his story of gambling-related harm alongside the chance to raise awareness around the current landscape and why it’s critical that today’s student-athletes are educated on this important issue, the message can then be taken back to all the colleges across the division who are able to book a fully-funded visit from the EPIC team to address athletes and staff at every campus.

The following day, he also joins a session with athletic directors (ADs) from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), highlighting the risk factors for their student-athletes and staff, and why this is relevant to them. Similar to the previous day’s D2 CCACA session, his story fused with examples of live issues facing student-athletes will be an eye-opening discussion for the ADs present, and a call to action for them to arrange for similar on-campus visits from the EPIC team for each of the Division II colleges in the competition.

Weber, meanwhile, who saw a successful professional poker career co-exist with destructive gambling losses away from the public eye, will be delivering the first installment of our recently-announced range of services to the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) on Thursday afternoon, sharing his story with the ADs and senior staff from the conference’s member colleges.

He will also share education and awareness that the PAC delegates can use in order to identify and mitigate against potential signs of harm among those under their care.

Speaking upon arrival in Nashville, Chester said that he was looking forward to being able to share the harm prevention message further and meet new contacts throughout the NCAA who can help to protect student-athletes and staff alike by arranging for EPIC to visit their college and deliver face-to-face awareness sessions.

“It’s great to be at the NCAA Convention with a chance to establish some new connections,” he explained.

“Greg and I will be talking with some influential people from some great colleges, and it will be our pleasure to provide resources for them to take back to their staff and student-athletes.”

Any NCAA Convention attendees who aren’t due to be at one of EPIC’s addresses, but would like to connect with either Patrick or Greg to understand more about the program we deliver to colleges, can email ncaa@epicglobalsolutions.com to discuss potential meeting opportunities this week.