Engagement Insider
PHILADELPHIA, PA June 26, 2013 – Tomorrow’s leaders started summer with a sizzle by attending the NFL-Wharton Prep Leadership Program.
Like many leaders of all ages, the Class of 2014’s top three dozen high schoolers earned their invitation by overachieving in both academics and athletics.
As a reward for their efforts, the 36 top male and female student-athletes selected to stay at Philadelphia’s University of Pennsylvania setting received an early education in leadership training that will serve as a formal foundation moving forward.
“This outstanding event is an opportunity for these student-athletes to take their special skills to the next level,” said Troy Vincent, Senior Vice President of NFL Player Engagement. “They have already expended the effort to earn their spot at Wharton, and now can share their newly-learned leadership skills this summer as a springboard into their senior year.”
But by no means was it an early summer vacation.
Rather, it was sharpening skills during a demanding finals week-type schedule filled with coursework and breakout sessions offering leadership lessons like motivation, professional and career development in areas such as social media and public speaking, financial and management education, and negotiations and networking.
And all taught at one of the nation’s most renowned educational institutions, where representatives from the NFL and its Player Engagement Department joined with Wharton Faculty and its Sports Business Initiative to host panelists that included James Harris of the Philadelphia Eagles and Spencer Tillman of CBS Sports.
And that’s not all, since the elite group also was privy to panelists from the Villanova and Temple football and basketball programs sharing the secrets of successfully balancing academics and athletics.
Teachable moments to be sure, but not surprisingly, well deserved since the student-athletes were selected from a competitive compilation of undergraduate grades and standardized testing scores, letters of recommendation, student essays and athletic achievement records.
All a part of life and leadership, and a test these rising stars passed with flying colors.