As junior Sammi Krantz listened to a speaker from the Washington Spirit soccer team, she was able to view her role on the Student-Athlete Leadership Committee from a new perspective. When speaker Zoe Wulff discussed her role in getting players and the community involved with each other, Krantz was able to relate her position on the committee to the professional world, especially because they shared a goal of respectful and engaged fans.
Ten CESJDS Student-Athlete Leadership Committee members, Assistant Athletic Director Mathew Landy and Athletic Director Becky Silberman attended a leadership retreat at the Field School on Nov. 13 with Field and the Mclean School. The trip lasted from 9 a.m, until 1 p.m. and consisted of two guest speakers and multiple group activities. One of the main goals for the retreat was to craft a Code of Conduct for the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC). This code is intended to set a specific set of guidelines for the PVAC to moderate fan behavior.
The Student Athlete Leadership Committee was formed in the spring of last year with the goals of increasing fan attendance at games and correcting the inappropriate fan behavior that was becoming increasingly common. Silberman believes that this new code of conduct will be more effective than anything she has tried previously, because it will be coming from fellow students, not administrators, and the code of conduct will be displayed on a banner in the gym for everyone to see.
“I also think it [the code of conduct] just creates a good environment,” Silberman said. “I think it’s more welcoming for visiting teams coming in. I also think it kind of lays the groundwork for visiting teams coming in, and then also just more [positive] involvement.”
While the focus of Wednesday’s retreat was creating a code of conduct, the day started off with a speaker discussing leadership in sports and how to specifically lead a group of peers towards better behavior and enthusiasm. The second guest speaker, Jesse Gaylord, discussed different leadership roles and strategies to help earn respect as leaders from peers.
After these guest speakers, students were divided into groups, to draft the code of conduct for the league. Junior Ellie Strisik-Rosenthal thinks the code of conduct is a good way to build a culture of respect in the PVAC.
“I think it’s important to all unite under one code of conduct that shows how we’re supposed to honor that diversity and honor just like each other at the games and act in the way that you would want someone else to act at your game,” Strisik-Rosenthal said.
In addition to creating this code of conduct, Krantz said that the retreat was also interesting and important for other reasons.
“I think that getting to work with people from other schools was meaningful because they brought a new perspective,” Krantz said. “We have a very small bubble at JDS and definitely expanding that and hearing new perspectives from different schools who might have a different athletic culture and combining our shared experiences to create something that would apply to the whole PVAC was an amazing experience.”
