LANCASTER, Pa. -- The Centennial Conference is accepting applications for the 2024-25 Snell-Shillingford Symposium, a weekend affair where students have the opportunity to attend seminars on various topics related to leadership and careers in college athletics and network with industry leaders. This year’s program, held in Baltimore on October 12-13, coincides with the National Convention for Women Leaders in Sports. It will feature keynote speakers Dr. Amy Wilson from the NCAA, Jaecee Hall from Unbreakable Female Athlete, and more! 

Applications for the Snell-Shillingford Symposium open August 1, 2024, and will be accepted through Friday, September 13, 2024, at 11:59 pm, apply here.  

About 

The Snell-Shillingford Symposium was started in 1999 by then-Bryn Mawr College athletic director Jen Shillingford to encourage women undergraduates to enter the field of coaching. Female athlete representatives and coaches from member schools, including Bryn Mawr, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, McDaniel, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore, Ursinus, and Washington College, converge to participate in sessions designed to empower women in the coaching profession and to encourage them to take up the legacy of those who have gone before them.

History

The symposium honors the contributions and commitment of two of the most influential women in the coaching profession, Eleanor Frost Snell and Jen Shillingford. Miss Snell, as she was known to her students, served Ursinus College as a professor of health and physical education, coach, and head of the women’s physical education department for four decades, from 1931 to 1971. In keeping with the program’s emphasis on mentoring and passing on the education of coaches from one generation to the next, the symposium also bears the name of Snell’s student and mentee, Jen Shillingford, who served as a field hockey coach and athletic director for over 20 years at Bryn Mawr and president of the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA).

Who is eligible?

Any woman undergraduate student attending a Centennial Conference institution is eligible to apply. We are looking for students who have an interest in pursuing a career in coaching, athletic administration, athletics communication, athletic training, or other leadership related careers.

For updates on speakers, schedules, and other resources on the Snell-Shillingford Symposium, visit www.centennial.org or follow @CentConf on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 



"'I HAVE A DREAM' I hope that some day every Division III Conference will offer a similar symposium. We know that the Centennial Conference has had over 50% of their symposium participants enter the field of women's athletics. Therefore if we play the "numbers game", the possibility exists for the development of over 200 new women coaches in Division III. This would go a long way toward closing the gender gap." -Jen Shillingford