Picture of Draddy Gymnasium, fully packed.
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María Castaño, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Manhattan University (MU) supports its student-athletes through resources such as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and its partnership with The Zone app, which promotes mental health and wellness. These initiatives help shape student-athletes’ development, involvement and overall athletic culture.
Nicolette Caneda ’24 served as president of the SAAC 2024-25 executive committee board, while also holding a leadership position on the women’s soccer team. In an interview with The Quadrangle, Caneda discussed the importance of student-athlete mental health, a topic that became especially meaningful to her as a psychology major.
“It was important for me to work with the counseling department,” Caneda said. “We didn’t have any support groups for athletes… It took a lot of effort to really reiterate and be really stern on the things we wanted and why we needed them… Whenever I felt like our athlete community needed something, and I thought we weren’t being taken seriously or given the time of day, I would sit there with Irma [Garcia, director of athletics at MU], … and really reiterate and tell her what we needed and what our athletes wanted.”
Caneda’s advocacy, alongside the efforts of the SAAC Executive Committee, helped make student-athletes’ mental well-being a greater priority. During the interview, she also highlighted the influence of her coach, Brendan Lawler, whose coaching approach reinforced the importance of recognizing student-athletes as individuals.
“My coach always would say, ‘I just want good humans graduating out of this program,’ and I think he has gotten that nine times out of 10,” Caneda said. “I could speak to MU’s culture in terms [of the] women’s soccer [team]… I know that we really valued the human aspect. [As] I was saying earlier, we had a really great coach, Brendan [Lawler].”
A focus on student-athletes’ individual growth, goals and challenges has shaped the university’s athletic culture, allowing teams to develop distinct approaches to competition and sportsmanship.
Bailee Christofis, a junior international studies and criminology major who has competed on MU’s women’s cross country and track and field teams since her freshman year, shared what makes her team unique.
“I think one thing that makes our team stand out is the level of humility we carry,” Christofis wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “We’ve often been in the position of being the underdogs, and I think that has shaped our identity as a team. We don’t necessarily walk into every competition expecting things to be handed to us. Instead, there’s an understanding that we have to work for everything we accomplish.”
Philip Isaksson, a freshman business management major and goalkeeper on the men’s soccer team, offered another perspective on how teams develop distinct values shaped by their goals and experiences.
“My impression is that soccer means a lot to this school and for the people in and around the program,” Isaksson wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “The culture set by coaches and captains has been really strong, and it has given us clear guidelines of what we as players and a group strive for.”
Isaksson also expanded upon his expectations for the university’s athletic programs as a whole, drawing on his experiences as a student-athlete at MU.
“Only that the sky’s the limit for this school and all its programs,” Isaksson wrote. “There is a great cultural sports foundation and… athletes associated with the school do a great job in maintaining and building the values of the athletic programs.”
Team traditions also highlight the importance of the personal connections and shared experiences that shape student-athletes’ identities.
“One tradition that we always try to do is take a team lap at the start of indoor meets,” Christofis wrote. “That means all 80 of us jog a lap or two around the track and meet in the middle. We form a huge huddle and have the upperclassmen talk about the game plan. It’s genuinely so motivating to hear what others think about pre-race, pre-jump, and pre-throw.”
Although the men’s soccer team takes a more individual approach to preparing for competition, Isaksson emphasized the role his teammates and coaches have played in helping him feel welcomed.
“I wouldn’t say we necessarily have a specific ritual that the whole team follows,” Isaksson wrote. “Most people have their own thing, and I feel like that’s quite important on the individual level to make sure they are able to perform. I personally like to get in the mindset and game as early as possible by making sure I get a good prehab in and focus on my warm-up.”
Isaksson also highlighted the support he received from coaches, staff and teammates as he adjusted to university life.
“I have felt a great amount of support from all the coaches and staff in my transition into [university] life,” Isaksson wrote. “Not only athletically but also academically. I have also met some truly amazing teammates that have been a great time getting to know and to play with.”