The Maryland Made Leadership Academy
Rose DiPaula, Director of Strategic Communications
2/7/2023
The Maryland Made Leadership Academy was created to strengthen the foundation of future leaders and commit to developing student-athletes at all levels. This program empowers student-athletes to overcome the increasingly complex challenges that emerge as they take on leadership roles. By exploring the pros and cons of diverse leadership styles and strategies, you will expand your ability to build productive teams, champion change, lead in a crisis, and create a culture of high performance.
In her nearly five years in College Park, Assistant AD for Student-Athlete Development, Resa Lovelace, has made it a goal of hers and the of the Maryland Made program to help student-athletes develop leadership skills that will help them not only while here at Maryland but also in their future careers.
“When I arrived in the Fall of 2018, my first goal was to sit down with all of our coaching staffs to understand ways in which they thought their student-athletes needed to grow through education, and one of those areas was leadership skills,” Lovelace said.
I am beyond thankful and thrilled to be a part of the Maryland Made Leadership Academy. While in high school, I always tried to get involved in my community, which is something I have tried to carry over to College Park. Community, family, and leadership are things that I try to prioritize on and off the field. These are things that Maryland Made prioritizes too.Emma Muchnick
Lovelace put out a survey, trying to learn where student-athletes and coaches thought they needed growth the most.
“I immediately noticed that there were five points of alignment between how the student-athletes saw themselves and how the coaches saw them,” Lovelace said. “So in my first year, I created the program to discuss those five areas of growth and the coaches loved what their student-athletes were learning and the student-athletes did too.”
The fourth cohort of the Maryland Made Leadership Academy begins Feb. 15 with 12 student-athletes from 9 (nine) sports accepted into the program.
“The first way the program has grown is through its diversity of sports,” Lovelace said. “We are now starting to see sports like wrestling and women's soccer show up with multiple student-athletes in this program. What is exciting about that is these are two of our sporting teams on the rise in their perspective spaces.”
“The major way that this program has changed is now the student-athletes self-identity their topics of education for the five-week program. Allowing them to pick what they want to learn, shows that they are aware of some of their deficiencies and that they actually want to improve to be better individually but also collectively.”
Having an organization like Maryland Made and the Leadership Academy program, which helps bring together student athletes from other walks of life and sports, is truly special and to be a part of this cohort is such an honor.Garrett Kappes
The areas in which they will grow is something the student-athletes accepted into the program are extremely grateful for.
Redshirt freshman wrestler Garrett Kappes said, “Having an organization like Maryland Made and the Leadership Academy program, which helps bring together student athletes from other walks of life and sports, is truly special and to be a part of this cohort is such an honor. Not only because of the lessons I’ll learn and carry on with me, but the opportunity to grow myself as not only a leader but as a person and to do so alongside great people in my peers and the facilitators of the Academy is just awesome.”
Freshman Emma Muchnick of the women’s lacrosse team is also looking forward to her time in the cohort.
“I am beyond thankful and thrilled to be a part of the Maryland Made Leadership Academy,” Muchnick said. “While in high school, I always tried to get involved in my community, which is something I have tried to carry over to College Park. Community, family, and leadership are things that I try to prioritize on and off the field. These are things that Maryland Made prioritizes too.”
Nearly five years since implementing this program, the growth and success of it has touched many Terps.
“What makes me excited to work with this cohort is that we are seeing domestic and international student-athletes, a variety of student-athletes that are currently in leadership positions and those that are looking to attain them and lastly student-athletes who have already impacted our department in multiple ways,” Lovelace said.
"Who should participate?"
Student-athletes who are looking to learn more about practical concepts of leadership. You do not need to be a current SAAC Team Rep or Captain of your team. If you want to lead in your current role, as a student-athlete, or looking to enter the workforce a step ahead, then this academy is for you!
