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Athletic Leadership Academy
SUCCESSFUL ROOKIE YEAR FOR THE ATHLETIC LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
In its inaugural year, 37 student-athletes graduated from McDonogh’s Athletic Leadership Academy—15 of them with distinction, having gone above and beyond the course requirements. The program, under the leadership of Aquatics Director Scott Ward, is designed to give students the skills needed to be leaders in their sports and in life. The Academy is based on the work of Jeff Janssen, one of the world’s top experts on sports leadership.
“The premise of the program is to become a credible leader that the teammates will trust and follow,” Ward says. “You have to lead yourself before you can help your teammates.”
The 2022-2023 participants, primarily sophomores and juniors, demonstrated their commitment to the program from the start by attending a series of early morning classes and completing assignments throughout the year. Commitment is one of the four Cs on which the program focuses. The others are confidence, composure, and character.
Ward is careful to explain that not all participants will go on to become captains of their teams, but the skills learned throughout the program can be applied in all aspects of life. “You can be a leader but not a captain,” he says, noting that many great leaders “lead from the bench.”
In her junior year, Ava McKennie ’24 did just that as a “backup leader” for the freshmen on the varsity basketball team, by applying the Academy lessons of respect and trust. She explains that she earned the respect of her teammates by not being overbearing, and because she is a person who listens, they trusted her enough to accept what she said. Her connection with the younger players made a difference in the basketball championships as she encouraged them to keep going, especially during “nail-biter moments.”
Ava feels McDonogh’s Athletic Leadership Academy has prepared her well for her senior year and beyond. A member of the Greatest Good McDonogh Council and a Rollins-Luetkemeyer Leader, she also hopes to be a three-sport captain. “It’s a great program even if you don’t want to be a captain,” she notes. “It gets you ready to be on a team and to be a team player.”
Ward expects the program to flourish and grow as this year’s graduates become veterans and apply their leadership skills on the fields, courts, and in the pool. At the same time, a new class of rookie athletes will learn the value of the four Cs, beginning by demonstrating their commitment to the Athletic Leadership Academy.
