SoCon Leadership Retreat Inspires Georgia Southern Student-Athletes
7/29/2013 6:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern student-athletes Kim Thomas, Brittney Benzio and Anna Claire Knight took advantage of a rare opportunity by participating in the 18th annual Southern Conference Student-Athlete Leadership Institute at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, N.C.
The trio joined more than 40 Southern Conference student-athletes and administrators, including Georgia Southern senior woman administrator Cathy Beene and assistant women's basketball coach Justin Phoenix, to put aside their competition rivalries for a weekend of fun and leadership training.
Representatives from 10 SoCon institutions were on hand to participate in a variety of team and leadership building activities, as well as to discuss and develop ideas for the Student Athlete Advisory Committees (SAACs) at their respective schools. In addition to developing practical leadership skills, SALI participants also created friendships with the athletes from different schools and sports across the league.
"The time I spent at SALI was unforgettable," said Thomas, a member of the Eagle track and field team. "I got to interact with so many different athletes from various sports. The atmosphere was great, being up in the mountains made everything seem so much more fun. I got a lot of advice from the other schools on what athletes can do to become more involved in the community. I can't wait to show them to the other Student Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) members. Every athlete should have the opportunity to experience something like this."
"It was a great opportunity to meet other athletes and coaches while learning skills that will allow me to be a better leader," said Benzio, a rising senior on the women's basketball team. "We got to hear what kinds of community service other schools in our conference are involved in and can hopefully implement some of the ideas at Georgia Southern."
Festivities began Friday as members from each school created a poster and presented it and introduced themselves to the group before engaging in several icebreaker activities designed to ease the process of getting to know their fellow participants. Kevin Ringhofer and Que Tucker facilitated the event, implementing different activities and discussions designed to identify the various aspects of leadership.
Saturday started off with Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino's, "Commissioner's Chat" where participants are able to learn about conference happenings and plans. The commissioner took questions from the student-athletes about conference realignment and the various SoCon championships. The morning session featured discussion of SAAC activities, taking ideas from participating schools and creating new initiatives to use at their individual institutions.
In the afternoon, participants used their leadership and communication skills to complete an indoor ropes course, set over two stories high. Each individual relied on their partners to navigate their way through the course successfully.
On Sunday morning, the group was presented with hypothetical situations and discussed how they would handle them as leaders at their respective schools. Participants ended the day by sharing their experience at SALI and what projects and initiatives they were going to attempt to implement at their institutions.
"It was a great opportunity to meet other athletes from the Southern Conference and learn about leadership," said Knight, a rising junior on the women's basketball team. "Everyone was able to put their rivalries behind, and we came together to brainstorm some awesome ideas for SAAB."
