Tuesday, November 13, Alliance held a Nebraska Schools Activities Association leadership summit. Student athletes from the surrounding schools are chosen from their coaches and teachers to go to the summit.

The summit began at 9:00 AM when Kat Kuzmic sang the National Anthem. After that, the summit officially took off with a welcome from Darin Boysen, one of the speakers. He introduced the other speakers, who were Rob Miller and Lori Thomas; the executive director of the NSAA, Jay Bellar; the assistant director, Ron Higdon; and the student advisory committee, Maycee Quick from Alliance and Jerzie Menke from Bridgeport. Mr. Higdon began with talking about the Student Advisory Committee.

Around 9:15, Rob Miller began speaking about Proactive Coaching: Be Different, Be Noticeable, Be Appealing. Then he gave the microphone to Lori Thomas, who talked about Proactive Coaching: Competitiveness and Mental Toughness. Her talk focused on “WIN- What’s Important Now?”. Next was Staff Sergeant Bubba Page who talked about servant leadership, and the significance of serving others. Rob Miller came back to the stage to talk about Proactive Coaching: Sportsmanship- Respect Authority & Opponents. The Student Advisory Committee did the “Breakout Session” where everyone got into groups, discussed, and answered five leadership questions.

The Student Advisory Committee came to the stage to do an activity called “Breaking Down the Barriers.” This activity allowed people to be open and vulnerable. The goal of the activity was to show that everyone is going through something that no one knows. Higdon, Quick, and Menke began with telling the crowd to stand if you relate to the statement, and to stay seated if not. They went back and forth saying some tough and deep statements like “Stand if you have a friend/teammate/classmate that is dealing with depression,” and “Stand if your environment at home is not safe to be in.” The activity ended with a Pair and Share that allowed the students to conversate one on one more about themselves.

Taylor Siebert discussed how social media can be used as a positive influence. To end the day, the students came together as groups and made sportsmanship and leadership PSAs.

Many student athletes can apply what they learn from the summit to their sports and activities. Madison Gibson, president of student council and a cheerleader at Alliance High School, said her favorite part of the summit was “getting to learn about how I can better myself for my teammates.” She also said, “I loved how the NSAA SAC had us do the standing up activity. It was a real fun way to loosen up my nerves.”

When asked if he learned anything new from the summit, Coach Myers, head coach of the wrestling team, said, “I sure did. Something I wrote down from the presenters, I think it was Mr. Miller who said this, ‘We need to go from being enemies to being opponents and rivals.’ That was profound, as many times in athletics we may use ‘hatred’ of the enemy or opponent as a motivator.” He also aims on applying what he learned from the summit to his coaching. He says, “The first thing that I was excited about arrived at the tail end of the summit. We’re going to implement a welcoming committee to opposing teams during home duals. Competition needs to be celebrated, and harboring animosity toward your opponent is not the way to cultivate celebration. No matter the color of your uniform, that fact that those individuals are willing to put it on the line in front of a crowd needs to be celebrated.”

Students from the surrounding area had a great day learning new leadership and sportsmanship skills. Students were able to unite as one, share their battles, and focus on bettering their teams and community.