2023 SLC

The conference will include national keynote speakers and over twenty-five reputable breakout speakers. Each student-athlete will hear two keynote speakers and two breakout session speakers. Lunch will be provided.

Date and Location
The one-day conference will be held on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at Plainfield High School.

Participants
Member schools are encouraged to send student-athletes, who have demonstrated leadership skills, or have potential for leadership roles. The first 900 applicants will be accepted for this year’s conference. Student- athletes entering grades 9 through 12 for the 2023 Fall Semester are eligible to register.

​

1. Crush Your Inner Critic (Offered 1st Breakout Session)
“You’re not good enough, you don’t have what it takes and that’s why you’re scared!” That's what every elite performer's inner critic secretly whispered to them before they made the decision to own their imposter syndrome, face their fears and kill their addiction to being validated by the scoreboard and other people. I should know, I was one of them. In order to perform at an elite level without burnout and on a consistent basis, you need to learn how to silence your inner critic so your future self can live a life without regret. By the end of the session, you will be able to crumble the tight grip of your inner critic by embracing your fears, take action in shifting your mindset away from limited thinking, and be able to pull on resilience tools that will empower you to go after your wildest dreams. Learning Objectives: Identify, challenge and overcome the negative stories your inner critic is whispering in your ear so you can become an elite performer. Unlock the power of vulnerability so you can lean into your fears, have courage to take on new challenges and truly discover your capabilities Learn three simple tools to help overcome anxiety, disappointment and failure so you can focus on the most important play in sport and life, THE NEXT PLAY.

2. Social Media: Colleges are Watching You
Social media has become an integral part of the college recruiting process. Learn how you can maximize your profile in the eyes of college coaches, while at the same time limiting potential mistakes that could cost you thousands of dollars in scholarship money. Competition for college roster spots and scholarships are fierce! Learn how to utilize social media to your advantage, while becoming the CEO of your brand.

3. Sportsmanship & Character in Athletic Experience Both on and off the Field of Competition
Today, in all athletic competition there is a need for character and sportsmanship. Athletes should ask themselves, “how do I lead within my team the right way both on and off the field of competition?” The Champions of Character Program is used to change the culture of sports. Its mission is to provide training to instill the values that build character so students, coaches and parents know, do, and value the right thing on and off the field. The Champions of Character Program helps student-athletes find the balance by keeping positive core values such as: character, unity, integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership - at the heart of the athletics experience. We need to educate our student athletes on how values play out in both practice and competition. Coaches need to learn how to intentionally define, model, shape and reinforce character building through their coaching and mentoring. Research shows that the longer a student spends in sports, their social reasoning - sacrificing for the good of the team - rises, while their moral reasoning skills - doing what is fair, just, honest, and noble – decline. The display of sportsmanship through athletics is also crucial to developing team unity and growing as a student athlete.

4. Goal and Brain (Mind) Mapping
What is Goal and Brain (Mind) Mapping? It breaks down one’s goals into smaller parts or smaller steps that allow one to discover and align actions with desired goals. The concept of Goal and Brain (Mind) Mapping is not a new strategy! This session will focus on Goal and Brain (Mind) Mapping for high school, college, and career goals. This session will lay out steps to reach desired grade point average goals, college admission goals, desired career goals, and even financial goals.

5. Student- Led Social Media Team – How to Get One Started at Your School
Step by step directions on how to start a student-led social media team for athletic departments. Topics covered will include:
• How to get started
• Who to identify/recruit
• What does a social media team do
• How to implement & sustain
• Benefits of having a social media team

6. Financial Football
This session will give you a financial workout with a Financial Football interactive game, where it will test your knowledge in the field of money management. This session will also discuss financial topics, such as cyber security, savings, budgeting, and credit.

7. Leaders are Made Not Born, How to Develop Yourself for Success
The speaker will describe the essence of leadership and debunk the myth that leaders are born, not made. The truth is we all have leadership qualities that can be developed and other qualities we can learn. Leadership takes effort and intention, yet with a desire to grow ourselves we can all be successful leaders. The speaker will tell his story of being unsure of himself in high school and not being a great athlete, and how he overcame obstacles to develop himself and his leadership abilities. The session will outline essential qualities of great leaders and discuss specific ways each quality can be learned. Success in leadership is possible and he is excited to lead this session!

8. Great Leaders & Officials: Anything in Common?
Oh yeah!!! There are MANY things great leaders have in common with the great zebras, including: being in position to make the call, demeanor before the contest, leading by example, and remaining calm when things are unfavorable. The women and men in stripes must be leaders even if they are working alone!

9. Hazing: What It Is and Why it Doesn’t Work?
Hazing continues to plague athletic teams. Why? This session will look at what hazing is, what it isn’t, and most importantly why it doesn’t work. This session will also analyze some best practices on welcoming new teammates to the team. Identify when the initiation or on-boarding becomes hazing and detrimental to the program and to your new teammates.

10. Entering the World of NCAA Division I & II Eligibility
This session is designed to educate college-bound student-athletes about the necessary steps to participate in NCAA Divisions I and II athletics. An NCAA Eligibility Center representative will present the following information: current academic standards for NCAA Divisions I and II to include COVID-related relief, steps to achieving initial eligibility certification, walk-through of the registration and certification processes, and available informational resources.

11. Be a Leader in the Weight Room
The speaker will give the athletes tools to put in their toolbox and take home with them to their schools to be leaders by example. Training concepts, nutrition, and speed development will be things discussed at length as well as other concepts of sports performance and leadership.

12. Finding the Best Version of Yourself Through Sports
Learning to lead and be led. Using sports to understand how to be part of something bigger that yourself. What is your role? How does your role grow and change, as you become the best version of yourself.

13. Good Sporting Behavior: Modeling the Best of Sport (Offered 1st Breakout Session)
Ways to maximize the sporting experience as a fan, competitor, and casual observer. This session will utilize interactive activities which will simulate the contest atmosphere.

14. Don’t be Afraid to Stand Out
Leaders lead through their actions and through their words. In this breakout session we will discuss the importance of positive leadership through actions, words and demeanor in the classroom and on the court. In a
world of engaging on social media and through technology, we need to revisit what leadership looks like, sounds like, and feels like in order to truly be connected to your peers. Creating positive daily routines fosters leadership capabilities. Through changing our own behaviors, we can change our classrooms, ball field, school and community.

15. You vs You (Offered 2nd Breakout Session)
In this session the speaker will discuss self confidence and preparation. It will encourage you to be competitive with yourself and enjoy the process. The speaker will discuss life storms and winning the Inner Battles.

16. IHSAA Student Advisory Committee Information (Offered 1st Breakout Session; for Rising Sophomores)
ATTENTION RISING SOPHOMORES: Are you interested in serving on the IHSAA Student Advisory Committee (SAC)? The Student Advisory Committee is a group of student-athletes, who work IHSAA State Championships, plan and organize the Student Leadership Conference, and meet with IHSAA Commissioners to represent and speak for Indiana’s 160,000 student-athletes. SAC members have the privilege of a front row seat to the actions that enable Indiana High School Athletics! In this panel, student-athletes will have the opportunity to speak and ask questions with current members of the IHSAA Student Advisory Committee.

17. “What Does LEADERSHIP Look Like When Nobody is Watching?”
Opportunity is everything. As student-athletes who are tapped for leadership roles, life lessons and chances to learn and grow are plentiful. However, as the saying goes, when much is given, much is expected. As a leader how do you handle hard times? What sacrifices do you make today, in order to be your best self, ten years from now? In this session we will talk about what it means to be a part of a team and how to lead in tough situations. The speaker will discuss scenarios faced by teens every day and work through ways to react/respond. Leadership is not something you can take a break from or push pause on and considering what you do when you face adversity takes insight and time to process. Are you willing to walk the walk of leadership or just talk the talk?

18. Transitioning from High School Leadership to College
This breakout session will cover the transition from high school leadership to college, from the perspective of a collegiate student athlete. This breakout session will cover topics such as: how to be a successful student athlete in high school, how to prepare for college, and how to take what you learn in high school and apply that to your life after high school.

19. Let’s Get Social!
How to market and build your digital resume/footprint in today’s society. Brand recognition has always been critical to the success of major businesses, but how can your brand as a student-athlete and leader help catapult your athletic and future work career? The good, the bad and the ugly of social media will be discussed, DON’T END UP ON GOOGLE!

20. Turning Off to TURN ON
Session will focus on effects of social media (negative and positive), peer selection, choosing leadership and how those choices affect our success, productivity, and mental health. How does making these decisions with confidence impact your future and keep you on the journey to your successful life? Concepts include choosing to be a sovereign, what does a sovereign look like, building mentors, and being uncommon is cool. Students will leave with a “Mapping Your Personal Sovereignty” plan.

21. Lead Like YOU
Leadership is a quality that comes to some more naturally than others. Some are born with it or develop behaviors that lend themselves more naturally to leadership. Others learn, through great trials and tribulations, the skills and tools necessary to become great leaders. However, every great leader has something that is unique or individualistic to either the person or their area of leadership. The best leaders find ways to take their own
experiences as well as those around them and apply those experiences towards helping others achieve their goals. In this session, we discuss how we can take our own unique experiences, however good or bad, and apply them towards leading our peers in athletics…and in life.

22. Your Relationship With the Media
As a student-athlete, you are not only a leader for your team but a representative and image of your school and community. You have a responsibility to the IHSAA, your school, your coaches, and your teammates by cooperating with the media. Because of this fact, you need to always be aware of what you say and what you do. During high school athletics, you may be approached by different types of media: the school newspaper, local newspaper, local news station, radio, television, or magazine. Learn how to prepare yourself for interviews, specifically television interviews, to showcase your sport, school and community.

23. Student Advisory Committees – Creating and Evolving
This session will discuss various ways to create and evolve a Student Advisory Committee. If your school already has a Student Advisory Committee, the speakers will discuss ways to make it the best it can be.

24. The Field of Sports Medicine
Do you have a love of sports and a passion for working in the medical field? Sports medicine focuses on helping people improve their athletic performance, recover from injury, and prevent future injuries. Learn about the many opportunities to pursue your dream career.

25. The Mental Pillars of an Elite Mindset
This session will discuss eight mindset traits that are common in the most successful athletes and leaders in the world today. This is a favorite session amongst the teams the speaker has trained.

26. Building a Winning Culture
In this session, the speaker will share how to establish a winning culture. Diving into what it takes to be a champion. The speaker will share his personal journey with building a winning culture.

27. Lessons in Leadership - What do you Stand For?
Have you ever heard the following phrases? “You are what you allow” or “How you do anything is how you do everything.” If so, do you agree or disagree with them? This presentation will discuss why those phrases are true and how they have shaped the speaker’s life as a leader. The speaker will discuss how they can transform your character both on and off the field. The speaker will then discuss how you can apply this mindset and spread a culture of accountability and discipline throughout your athletic programs and school communities.

28. Women in Athletic Leadership: How can YOU get involved!
This session will focus on a discussion of the challenges women face in a male dominated field. We will discuss different opportunities available to women and steps to get involved in order to make a difference.

29. Improving Competition Outcomes by Expanding Your Comfort Zone: Celebrating Diversity Through Collaboration & Acceptance
In this session, members of the Pike High School Athletic Council will share their personal stories and help facilitate a discussion on how expanding comfort zones by celebrating diversity can lead to improved competition outcomes. Athletic administrators, coaches, and student athletes have the opportunity to create a culture of inclusivity and support for all stakeholders – the home team, the visitors, the spectators, and the contest officials. Through interactive discussions, centered on collaboration and acceptance, the group will provide strategies and tools to help create a more welcoming and diverse athletic community. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from student leaders. Gain tips for tackling difficult conversations. Improve your athletic programs!

Champions Together—Become a Unified Champion School
The IHSAA Student Advisory Committee first established the partnership with Special Olympics Indiana in response to Commissioner Cox’s challenge to become “servant leaders” in their schools and communities. Since then, more than half the schools in the state have become involved in Champions Together.
Learn how your school can become a Unified Champion School and earn a BANNER by becoming a partner with Special Olympics and embracing the #InclusionRevolution. Learn more about the four Unified Sports State Championships. Attend these breakout sessions to learn how your school can initiate or enhance all areas of your Champions Together efforts.

30. Champions Together-Unified FUN
Champions Together is an amazing partnership between the IHSAA and Special Olympics Indiana. In this highly interactive workshop, you will laugh and learn how Unified Sports can change your school (and you) for the better. Champions Together is all about INCLUSIVE competition, friends, and fun!

Colleges and universities will be invited to take part in the conference. During the lunch periods, all participants will have the opportunity to gather information on post-secondary education from admissions representatives.

A t-shirt exchange will take place during lunch! Participants (adults and student-athletes) are encouraged to bring a school t-shirt to exchange with students-athletes from other schools.  Bring multiple shirts for multiple exchanges!!