r Nebo student athletic leaders from junior high and high schools gathered for a Captain’s Academy on March 28, 2018, at the Nebo School District Office. These team leaders were selected by their peers and/or their coaches as leaders on their respective teams. Team captains of track and field, baseball, golf, tennis, soccer and softball teams from each secondary school in the district gathered for motivation and collaboration regarding sportsmanship and leadership.
The first presenter was Krista Prusak, Athletic Trainer at Maple Mountain High School. Ms. Prusak had students literally rolling on the ground as they participated in rolling on foam pads to relieve various forms of muscle knots and areas of soreness. Students grasped the value of pre- and post-workout stretching to their overall health.
Next up was Eli Herring, teacher and coach at Mountain View High School and former state champion football player and wrestler at Springville High School. Mr. Herring used his master story-telling abilities to engage student-athletes in their role as sportsmanship ambassadors. His message was that each leader’s job is to represent family, school, and team to others in a positive way. He addressed respecting all people, no matter their situation or abilities. He finished with the idea that these can be even be done in the atmosphere of stiff competition.
The final session was tag-teamed by two softball players from Weber State University: Kirtlyn Bohling from Salem Hills and McKinley Brinkerhoff from Spanish Fork. These current Wildcats used a ‘helium stick’ to teach student-athletes about leadership and cooperation. They drew out from attendees that there are different styles of leadership and that each has a place in building a team culture that can be passed from one class to the next. Finally, Ms. Bohling and Ms. Brinkerhoff supported Mr. Herring’s assertion that every player on a team has the ability to lead in the right circumstances and even players with more age and experience can learn from the youngest, inexperienced players.
Some student captain’s comments included:r“I really enjoyed the whole thing, getting to know other people and understanding my role as a captain more deeply. It made me feel proud to be a captain and want to help my team be successful.”
“I felt like it was a great way to show what we are expected to do as captains and to have good sportsmanship thank you so much for letting my school come!”
Nebo School District thanks these fine leaders for their guidance of these young athlete captains and extend a special thanks to Mark Binks of Springville High and Lee Gillie of Salem Hills High for facilitating the Captain’s Councils as a follow up to each speaker.
