Haverford Hosts First Strive Sessions of 2018-19

Haverford Hosts First Strive Sessions of 2018-19

Strive Program Home

HAVERFORD, Pa. – On Sunday, September 9, the Haverford College athletic department hosted its first Strive presentation of the 2018-19 academic year inside the Gooding '84 Arena on the Haverford campus.

The department partners regularly with Strive: How You Lead Matters to provide exceptional, comprehensive leadership training to all student-athletes. Strive's workshops which are grounded in a research-based, customizable curriculum are delivered by engaging and seasoned facilitators with collegiate athletic and education backgrounds. Through intentional programming, student-athletes tackle concepts of leadership styles, motivation, culture creation, and empathy. Student athletes leave with an increased sense of intrapersonal and interpersonal awareness that allows them to compete at a high level while also serving as more effective players, teammates, captains, and members of the campus community.

The September presentations featured programming for first years, sophomores, and team captains as the transition from preseason practices and Customs to the balance of academic, social and athletic responsibilities began in earnest. 

The 75 minute sessions were facilitated by Program Coordinator Raven Scott, and dealt with different topics related to leadership. Captains focused on activities, exercises and content that related to accountability and team culture, handling difficult situations, intentional leadership, communication styles and the sharing of ideas within the team culture towards a common desired vision. The sophomores centered on communication styles and developing tools and strategies for effectively communicating with team captains, peers, and coaches. First-year student-athletes honed in on dispelling myths of leadership, developing tenants of followership, and developing a growth mindset in their first session. 

Haverford Baseball senior co-captain and SAAC Strive representative Jared Turner said of the partnership, "Strive leadership has helped everyone in our program and all the student-athletes build a basic understanding of leadership. Going into my second year as captain, the sessions have provided a bunch of different ideas from other student-athletes on how we can better build our team culture and the overall sports culture here at Haverford."

In addition to the published content of the sessions, participants are able to work with Strive staff to determine topics for future meetings that best fit the needs and interests of the teams on campus. The next sessions are slated for Sunday, October 7 as captains, fall sport juniors, and all first-years will meet at 6 p.m. inside Gooding '84 Arena. 

For more information on the Strive program, visit the Student Athlete Leadership tab.