For 215 graduate assistants and interns from across the NCAA membership, last week's Emerging Leaders Seminar represented an opportunity for intentional development and community-building. This virtual learning experience, organized annually by the NCAA, seeks to equip participating young professionals with the skills necessary to accelerate their career progression in college sports.
"Any young professional seeking a future in intercollegiate athletics should not hesitate on an opportunity to participate in ELS: It's impactful, insightful and eye-opening, providing clarity and living proof that community exists outside of your member institution," said LaDerica Paul, graduate assistant for women's basketball at Texas Woman's University.
"Whether it was learning where I wanted my career to go, how to engage in crucial conversations, or setting boundaries for myself in the office space, I was always left with thinking more on how I could implement these skills and life lessons into my own life and how to make me a better leader," said Mike Calabrese, compliance graduate assistant at Bryant.
The professional development event took place Feb. 2-4, with speakers leading sessions on a variety of topics that will allow attendees to thrive in their current and future roles in sports. Participants dove deep into defining their purpose, gained skills in emotional intelligence and crucial conversations, and discussed strategies for prioritizing self-care to avoid burnout and putting inclusive leadership into practice.
Throughout the three-day program, 70 athletics administrators and coaches from across the membership served as speakers, facilitators and panelists, with an additional 45 alumni leading networking breakouts for the group. Featured guest presenters included Jacqie McWilliams, commissioner of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association; Felicia Martin, interim senior vice president of inclusion, education and community engagement at the NCAA; prominent motivational speakers Derek Greenfield and Jonathan Sprinkles; and Directors of Athletics Peter Roby (Dartmouth), Pennie Parker (Rollins), Alex Ricker-Gilbert (Jacksonville) and Jackie Nicholson (Rochester Institute of Technology).
"Our speakers brought incredible energy, engagement and insight, delivering meaningful takeaways to our ELS participants throughout the program," said Sable Lee, assistant director of NCAA leadership development. "We are grateful to all of the individuals who invested their time into developing the next generation of college sports leaders, and to our ELS cohort for their thoughtful engagement. By putting what they learned into practice, the 2022 ELS participants are poised to make a tremendous contribution to the student-athlete experience across the NCAA membership."
To replicate community in the virtual space, the program featured several "connection corner" sessions, where participants formed groups of 15 to discuss key program takeaways and build relationships with one another. The peer connection provided deeper conversation and broke down virtual barriers to fuel vulnerable discussion on program information.
"The connection groups were super helpful in being able to create deep, meaningful connections with my cohort," said Sarah Linebaugh, student-athlete enhancement graduate fellow at South Florida.
Central to the Emerging Leaders Seminar curriculum is an emphasis on self-awareness. All learners completed a DISC personality assessment, as well as a facilitated session to gain a better understanding of their reports.
Participants additionally engaged with industry breakout panels designed to provide a realistic look into life as an athletics administrator in their areas of interest. This included areas such as compliance, digital and social media, communications and sports information, student-athlete development, fundraising and more.
"The presenters and speakers themselves did a great job of making us feel connected and engaging us on a more personal level, which made me for one feel comfortable speaking and sharing and felt like I was making genuine connections with them," Calabrese said.
Participants said they were eager to return to their roles energized and prepared to support student-athletes. The 2022 cohort joins an Emerging Leaders Seminar alumni pool that represents a vast group of leaders in athletics.
"In just those three days of the seminar I was able to learn more about myself than I had in years, thanks to the design of the program," Calabrese said. "It helped show me the healthy work-life balance there needs to be when it comes to personal development, and all that I learned at ELS week does not just have to be applied to what I do at work, but what I do in life."
