LESLIE SLOVAK RISD ATHLETICS’ VERY BEST

By Maggie Kennedy, Richardson Life Magazine Intern

It has been an honor and privilege to work alongside Leslie for the past nine years. She is passionate about the role athletics can play in growing our student athletes. Her leadership ensures an environment anchored in excellence and high expectations. This allows our coaches to thrive as they instill a commitment to team and love of competition in our athletes. RISD is a better school district because of Leslie’s servant leadership.

– Tabitha Branum, RISD Superintendent

decision.” But she knew it was an opportunity that wouldn’t present itself often. And Slovak felt that eventually she would like to be an administrator to make a difference for student athletes in an even broader way.

RISD Athletic Director Leslie Slovak knew that she wanted to impact student athletes from the time she was about thirteen years old. “I knew in eighth grade that I wanted to be a teacher and coach,” says Slovak. She started down that path as a collegiate volleyball player at East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) before she became the head volleyball coach at Berkner High School.

Slovak has spent the last eight years as the first female athletic director in the RISD school district. Before she became athletic director, Slovak spent 15 years as assistant athletic director under now-mayor Bob Dubey.

The initial decision to leave Berkner High School and move on to an administrative position was a difficult one to make: “Leaving my kids at Berkner was tough and not being around kids every day was a tough

Slovak's love for collaborating with students led to the creation of the SALT program, RISD’s Student Athlete Leadership Team. Once a month, Slovak meets with 16 selected student athletes from all four high school campuses. The inspiration behind SALT was Slovak’s desire to interact with students on a regular basis again. She goes on to say, “I love getting to know our kids and watching them succeed not only in athletics, but in the classroom and in life.”

Although Slovak knew of student athlete leadership organizations on a campus level, she had never heard of one on a district level. Students involved in the SALT program get to develop their leadership skills alongside administrative personnel to make an impact on each campus.

An accomplishment of the program so far has been the representation of students from all sports and the diversity of the program members. Slovak’s recognition of the difficulties and pressures that come with being a student athlete has led to mental health becoming an overarching topic of conversation among students in the program.

Part of what students find the most beneficial about being involved in the SALT program are the leadership skills they develop. A former member of SALT, Joni Schneider, shared that she felt she became a better leader by being a part of the program because she learned to always think of others in every situation and to always be available to her peers.

When Slovak took on her position as athletic director in RISD, she knew it was a great opportunity to affect change. Part of what Slovak envisions for the future is young women and girls looking up to her to see what they can accomplish. She states, “I want young girls, young women, young female coaches to look and say, ‘You know what, I can do that, too.’” When attending meetings around the state, Slovak says that the number of female athletic directors has grown over the past several years, which she appreciates.

According to Slovak, she has felt most impacted by the culture of family and community as well as the support provided by all within RISD. Slovak believes that the culture of RISD should be centered around creating an atmosphere where everybody’s “why” is kids as well as providing support to peers even on tough days.

I enjoyed the RISD SALT program because I got to be a part of a group of fellow athletes that showcased what it meant to be a leader. I was honored to be a part of such a highly acknowledged program. I learned teamwork strategy skills, leadership skills, conflict resolution, what a good teammate and leader looks like, and skills of how to be the light to all around me on and off the court. Both Mrs. Slovak and Mr. Pitts created such a loving program that SALT quickly became a second family to me. SALT taught me how to use my voice for the team and not let the role of being a team leader be overpowering. This program helped me learn to give better advice or assistance for a teammate or to the team. I learned to become a better leader by remembering to always think of others in every situation and to always be the open ear and arms for everyone in the program. I truly am so thankful to have had the experience and opportunity to be a part of an amazing impactful program like SALT!

– Joni Schneider, former member of SALT

She expects every athletic program and every coach in the district to uphold those same values. Part of Slovak’s philosophy is to ensure that RISD is not a “win at all costs” district and that success within athletics is not measured just by wins and losses.

In her case, Slovak experienced success through an interesting and unusual outcome. She states, “I was injured in college and missed an entire season. And I was really bored at practices because I could not participate in drills. So I taught myself to juggle using volleyballs.” Since that time, she has learned to successfully juggle several responsibilities throughout her enduring career in RISD.

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