Ohio High School Launches Student-Athlete Leadership Program

Brunswick (Ohio) High School this week announced a new leadership program designed for high school student-athletes. 

Brunswick City Schools’ athletic director Jim Kovi told The Gazette that the Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) came to be because he was looking for a way to unify the different sports programs within the district’s athletic department. He wanted to help create a culture where different programs and student athletes support one another.

“We’re at the ground level here, but I’m really excited to provide this type of programming for our student athletes and continue to grow what this model is,” Kovi said.

The SALT program encourages students to think about what kind of leadership qualities they already have, and what they can work on, he said. Students will meet with one another in these meetings several times a year to learn about and develop life skills. Seminars will also be held for parents.

A parent seminar, which covered topics like sportsmanship, mental health and life skills, was already held, and on Monday Mike Eger from Education Stadium spoke with athletes about leadership traits such as flexibility, calmness, enthusiasm and persistence.

On Sunday, the first parent seminar was held, and topics like sportsmanship, mental health and life skills were discussed. Then on Monday, Mike Eger from an organization called Education Stadium spoke with athletes about leadership traits such as flexibility, calmness, enthusiasm and persistence.

“Those are the skills that we use every day in our professions that these young men and women already possess, but they may not even know it,” Kovi said, adding that it's important that athletes are leaders as they represent their schools in public. “If you’re going to inherently have some of that responsibility as a student athlete, then we should also teach you some of those foundational skills to navigate that,” Kovi said.