Ready To Make A Big Impact

Catherine DeRosa, better known as "Bootsie" by her friends, family, and teammates on the women's soccer team, has always found herself in leadership positions.

In high school, she was heavily involved in student council, various leadership groups, and other clubs. But when DeRosa first came to Maryland, she felt a void in that aspect of her life. To fix that, she joined the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) during her sophomore year. 

"My freshman year I struggled not having those resources and groups of friends, so I was excited to get involved in something like that," DeRosa said.

After a great first year in SAAC, where she served as the alumni relations liaison, DeRosa knew she wanted to make a more significant impact across campus and decided to apply for SAAC president.

"As athletes, we always want more," DeRosa said. "Once I was on the board and really enjoyed my year being on the board, I asked myself, "Why not try to go for something bigger?'" 

DeRosa ultimately won the position and is poised to create a big influence on Maryland student-athletes this school year. 

"I'm just really excited for the opportunity," DeRosa said.

The SAAC is a leadership group comprised of student-athlete representatives across every sport within Maryland Athletics. Members of SAAC serve the entire-athlete body through their dedication to acting as liaisons between student-athletes, the athletic administration, and the NCAA, along with building and strengthening campus-wide relationships. SAAC's mission is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by cultivating skills and service initiatives, promoting student-athlete welfare, and enhancing the student-athlete voice.

For DeRosa, the true meaning of what SAAC does is a little simpler.

"I would describe it as the voice of the student-athletes here at Maryland. Our whole goal at SAAC is to make your four years here, your best four years. And it's just leaving this place better than we found it."

In her alumni relations role last year, DeRosa was able to connect alums with student-athletes with those connections developing into meaningful relationships and mentorships. 

"I really saw that value in relationships with the alumni," DeRosa said. "They fully support Maryland athletics, they want to see Maryland athletics thrive and they want to see us as student-athletes really evolve after college. Being able to work with them and see how much they care about us was really cool."

As president, one of DeRosa's main goals is to focus on the mental health of student-athletes.

"I think last year was tough for a lot of people, so just making sure student-athletes know about the resources we have here is really important."

Her second central point of emphasis is to promote stronger bonds between student-athletes of different teams. One of the main ways DeRosa hopes to accomplish that is by pushing teams to attend other teams' games. 

"I'm big on relationships," DeRosa said. "I feel like the relationships between all the athletes here are super important. If we can create friendships throughout the teams and support throughout the teams, we'll build success."

And while DeRosa will lead the charge, she has a strong executive board behind her that she's very much looking forward to working alongside. 

"Everyone brings a different personality to the board and a bunch of leadership skills," DeRosa said. "The people on SAAC are captains, upperclassmen, they're leaders on their team, so it's exciting for all of us to collaborate."

DeRosa is also heavily involved in other aspects of Maryland Made. Most recently, she was part of the organization's career experiential learning trip in New York City over the summer. While in the Big Apple, DeRosa was again able to work side-by-side with Maryland alums who are invested in the future of Terrapin student-athletes.

"As a junior who's not entirely sure what she wants to do, it was super cool to be able to go and network with a bunch of the alumni in the area," DeRosa said. "Those relationships are super important and all they want is the best for us."

DeRosa played in 17 games last season on the pitch, tallying 781 total minutes and a pair of goals. In coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer's inaugural season with the Terps this year, the West Chester, Pennsylvania native will play a significant role again—both as a midfielder and team captain.

Additionally, that leadership will extend to every student-athlete as DeRosa looks to bring SAAC to new heights. 

"I've always had great leaders around me which has influenced me to step into the (SAAC president) role. As an individual, I want to impact as many people as possible. Being on a team at Maryland, these are the people I want to be around and be able to influence."