Rockin' Start

Coach Griffith led fast feet this morning at Vitamins.

VITAMIN AAAAAA!!

The tennis courts were alive and full of energy this morning! Our first
session of Vitamins was fantastic. The bucket of boom was pumping tunes
and the morning tone was set with some rockin' dance moves from Coaches
Grell, Poly, Gibs and Berg. The student-athletes were motivated by Coach
Griffith's and Stafford's enthusiasm and went to work on the speed and
agility drills. After our warm-up, there were ladders, hurdles and boxes
going all at once. Everyone was working very hard,and then all of a sudden
Coach Deasey heard the AB TRAIN coming, and the entire group hopped on
board by holding the plank position. That accompanied by some high-energy
foot fire drills wrapped up an AWESOME first day of Vitamins! I am now
feeling energized and I know the day is just going to continue as great as
the note it started on!!
-Coach Carden

The Student-Athletes woke up at 6:30AM to begin the morning with ladders! Vitamins begins at 7:00AM sharp every morning.

CONTAGIOUS ENERGY

I knew today would be a GREAT day from the moment that I walked into breakfast and immediately was asked by Coach Edwards ‘what today was?’ and my fellow co-coach, Coach Holle replied with ‘GAME DAY!”. It’s the day we [the staff] have all been working towards for the past couple of days. By around 3 o’clock tonight most the student-athletes had arrived and the energy was electric and contagious. I remember when I first arrived as a student-athlete in 2006 that I was nervous, but as soon as getting on campus began to realize the great journey I was about to embark on with my 100 and more new friends. Meeting all the new student-athletes was exciting and makes me look forward to the great relationships I have already begun to build with them. After our opening meeting where Coach Morgan introduced the great week we have planned, it was time to hit the athletic fields/courts. After getting some energy out and getting a vibe for the team/family we would be playing with for the next week, it was time to close the day with evening forum, which I remember as being one of my favorite things when I was a student-athlete. At the beginning each program had some loud and enthusiastic cheers to truly show the energy that is already buzzing around campus. From the heartfelt appreciations and red leaderships shirts handed out, the forum was a fantastic way to end the AWESOME first day here at Sports Challenge. I am overly pumped for the week ahead and can already tell that each one of the people at SportsChallenge will change my life for the better and it is my goal to do the same. The good times are already beginning to roll here at Sports Challenge Leadership Academy and won’t stop for NINE days!! Looking forward to tomorrow- that’s all for now- COACH HARE

FIRST DAY!!!!

And the student-athletes have finally arrived! Finally putting faces to the names we have been elegantly drawing on dorm name tags and binders, the coaches and staff have illustrated the true meaning of enthusiasm and friendliness in the opening 5 hours of the program with hugs and high fives (to the student athletes who don't understand why everyone already knows there name). While perhaps ambushed at first with the energy and encouragement to "open up," by evening forum the different sports were already having yelling competitions with who can be the most loyal (and therefore loud) to their sport. Already imitating the meaning of family, we (for the most part) sat politely and listened to the rules for the next 8 days, voiced encouragement to Savannah as she took the second public risk of the program (the first to everyone who came without knowing any one here!), and gave our first appreciations. Right now they are all in their first classes, learning the art of sports psychology and soaking up as much knowledge as they can from their beloved coaches. Sports Challenge Leadership Academy has finally started!

Boy's Basketball huddles in their first session. Guest Eric Boateng (St. Andrew's and Arizona State student-athlete graduate,) helps coach.

Staff Trains for Student-Athletes to Arrive!

Traveling by bus, train and plane from diverse backgrounds, the student-athletes will join us tomorrow on the beautiful but hot campus of St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware.
The staff has worked tirelessly the past four days preparing for the programmers to arrive! After late hours of preparation, the staff is ready and excited to meet all of the student-athletes! We have gone through situational training for both coaching and teaching; we are ready for the week to begin.


Through these meetings, we have seen the staff growing and developing relationships that will help the week be successful! The staff has grown very close from being together early in the morning to late at night.

We are eagerly waiting for everything to begin!
The staff has covered many different topics on the art of coaching and teaching
-core values
-the three different types of leaders (lead by example, the enforcer, the encourager)
-multiculturalism
-the necessity to challenge our student-athletes
-what various characteristics make up the ultimate leader


Through these discussions, we see that sports are an optimal venue for the teaching of life skills, especially leadership.