By Henry Schneiderman
Last semester, 3 Fighting Scots traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina for the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Student-Athlete Leadership Forum (SALF) from Nov. 21 through Nov. 24. Participants included student athletes, coaches and administrators. The student athletes representing Wooster were Lane Kellogg ’26 from men’s lacrosse, Sarah Lodge ’25 from softball and Maddie Moran ’25 from women’s golf. They were accompanied by assistant football coach Keetrone Singleton.
The event’s goal aimed for athletes to learn and lead by “lighting their torch.” The forum consisted of 8 primary color team breakout sessions, an NCAA Governance and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) breakout presentation, well-being breakouts, game night and 2 keynote speakers. It also featured a service project that partnered with Cool Kids, a non-profit organization that supports children fighting cancer and their loved ones.
“The NCAA Leadership Development Team did an amazing job putting together this event,” Lodge said. “Everything from months of training, inviting key speakers, and leading us through group discussions, they did it all.”
The group landed in Charlotte on the first day of the conference and met other student athletes from across the country. All attendees from different colleges and divisions were randomly split into groups of about 20 members for the duration of the 4 day event and led by 2 NCAA mentors and a graduate intern. These discussion groups, made up of athletes, coaches and administrators were known as “color teams”. The meals provided were nearly all supplemented with some form of entertainment, ranging from guest speakers to a forum-wide talent show between color teams.
Color team sessions offered attendees the opportunity to engage in open dialogue about a variety of topics, including core values, leadership styles and strengths, emotional intelligence and communication. Activities in these sessions helped build camaraderie and communication between team members and cultivated opportunities to compete against other color teams in events, such as a rock-paper-scissors tournament and a lip-sync battle.
“We were able to connect with many different athletes from all over the country to gain new perspectives on how others lead and some programs, especially involving their student-athlete advisory committee initiatives,” said Moran.
Participants were educated by a panel of professionals on the inner workings and structure of the NCAA and the roles and responsibilities of SAAC. They were prompted to share their opinions on Name, Image and Likeness deals, sports betting, sportsmanship in D3 athletics, mental health and the individual schools’ SAAC operations. Following this breakout, open interviews were offered for athletes who wanted to share some of their experiences, an event attended by Lodge.
“My favorite parts were the color team sessions,” Lodge said. “The small group setting allowed us to explore our own leadership styles and learn collaboratively.”
The well-being breakout session was led by guest speaker Dr. Jhanelle Peters, Athletic Counseling Coordinator for Pepperdine University, revolved around mental health and managing performance anxiety. Keynote speaker Kevin DeShazo talked about some of the themes in his book, “Keep Chopping Wood,” such as taking the time to sharpen your axe to be more productive and not comparing yourself to others. The other keynote speaker, Jonathan Sprinkles, spoke at length on believing in yourself and the power of self-motivation.
The student game night boasted a large feast and a number of games for athletes to play and connect, including basket pong, air hockey, cornhole, table tennis, mini-golf, caricatures and even a 360-degree slow-motion photo booth for attendees to snap memories of the event. Attendees also participated in making bracelets, bookmarks, cards and activity bags for the children at the Cool Kids Campaign.
Kellogg, Lodge, Moran and Singleton flew home after the conference with a new perspective on their leadership styles and the hopes of bringing some new techniques to Wooster for the rest of the athletic teams and department to share.
“SALF taught me a ton of valuable lessons; not just about leadership in sports, but also about who I am as a student athlete,” said Kellogg.
