Student-Athletes Attend Leadership Symposium

Eight Cardigan students recently attended the Lakes Region Athletic Leadership Symposium that was hosted by New Hampton School in New Hampshire. Our students participated in workshops alongside more than 100 of their peers and 30 faculty from 10 other independent boarding schools in New England.

The boys spent the morning attending workshops designed to strengthen their leadership skills and values as student-athletes and team leaders. The topics included representing yourself and your team on social media, shaping the cultural competency of your team and school, what does it mean to be a team leader, effective leadership principles, and leadership values that drive decisions and actions.

Franklin Chow ’20, a member of Cardigan’s Varsity Football Team during the fall season and is also currently the floor leader for McCusker I, attended the “One Team, One Goal” workshop, and found it to be most relatable to his experience so far at our school. “Cardigan is a school where everyone can be an athlete,” says Chow. “The workshop talked about team chemistry and how a leader can influence a team's culture and success. This is very applicable to me as a ninth-grade athlete who has a leadership position at Cardigan.” 

Conley Bohan ’21 was also on the Varsity Football Team this fall, and attended the “One Team, One Goal” workshop with fellow teammate Chow. “I felt it did a good job teaching how to hold yourself and your team responsible for their actions,” said Bohan of the workshop. “I will really try to use the teamwork that I learned about and the values at Cardigan. I will try to bring positivity to classrooms and the athletic fields.”

Bryce Terry ’20, Cardigan’s School Leader and member of the Varsity Soccer Team, learned from the symposium that it is ok to fail and change in life. “Failure is often frowned-upon in the world we live in,” said Terry, “but the act of failure pushes one to get back up, try harder, execute on a plan, and succeed. At Cardigan, I will not only push myself out of my comfort zone to take advantage of opportunities or tasks, I will push and encourage others to do so as well. Without failure, there would be no growth in life itself.”

Director of Athletics Ryan Frost attended the symposium Julia Ford, Halley Gartner, and Brady Leisenring ’98. “The Cardigan boys represented our school in grand fashion with both their actions and their words,” said Mr. Frost, who was clearly impressed with our boys who attended. “They participated, learned, and helped others grow as well. They were also the best dressed in the room in their Chapel Dress attire.”

The Cardigan students who attended the symposium included Bryce Terry ’20, Dylan Biggs ’20, Jason Jiang ’20, Franklin Chow ’20, Conley Bohan ’21, Miles Kim ’21, John Diemar ’21, and Michael Liu ’21. Other schools in attendance included Brewster Academy, Dublin School, High Mowing School, Holderness School, Kimball Union Academy, New Hampton School, Proctor Academy, St. Paul’s School, Tilton School, and Vermont Academy. The symposium was coordinated by the Deep Wells Group, a team of educators and leaders dedicated to helping develop, support, and empower leaders who aspire to make a positive impact on our world.