Alpena hosting leadership summit

By CHRIS DOBROWOLSKI
Jack Roberts, the Executive Director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, will be the keynote speaker at a sports leadership summit being held at Alpena High School on Saturday morning.

The summit, which came about as part of the SCOPE Award Alpena won last year for combining good sportsmanship with a proper perspective on athletics, also will feature two presenters from the Michigan State University Institute for the Study of Youth Sports as well as a panel discussion including four former collegiate athletes who have become successful working professionals in the Alpena community.

“We committed to this as part of our application for the SCOPE Award last winter,” said former Alpena athletic director Justin Gluesing, who helped put the summit together as part of the CHAMPS group. “When we applied we indicated we would use the funds to conduct a session like this. We worked with the MHSAA on ideas for what we wanted to do. Out of that came the format for the sports summit.”

Roberts’ speech kicks off the summit at 9 a.m. at the high school auditorium. He will be followed by Larry Lauer and Sarah Carson from the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. Among the things they will discuss include the important lessons for student-athletes to help them attain success in sports, school and life, important lessons for coaches and parents to make the high school athletic experience exceptional for student-athletes, as well as how to grow into and become a leader.

“I know how good of a speaker Jack Roberts is,” said Gluesing. “Having him visit Alpena is a huge honor.

The summit will conclude with a panel discussion moderated by Gluesing and consisting of former athletes Matt Cameron, Christen Sobeck, Trina Gray and Terry King. The discussion will focus on how each athlete maintained a healthy balance between athletics and school, and how their athletic experiences helped when they moved into the professional world.

“The goal of the panel was to bring in athletes — some of Alpena’s finest — who are now successful, working professionals in the community. All of them were very receptive and willing to participate in the event. We had a long list of possibilities, but the CHAMPS group never had someone say ‘no’ (they didn’t want to participate).”

Gluesing said he is hoping anywhere from 200-300 people attend the summit.

“All of our spring athletes should be in attendance and we’re asking at least one of their parents come,” said Gluesing. “We do welcome any community members who are interested. I’m just asking that they RSVP to the high school for the sake of numbers.”

Chris Dobrowolski can be reached via e-mail at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694.