LUMPKIN CO., GA

According to the University of North Georgia Athletics Department, six members of the UNG athletic staff attended the Leaders Sport Performance Summit last weekend, held at the Mercedes Benz Stadium. They attended as guests of Josoor, the educational arm of SC2022, who were the hosts of the World Cup in Doha in 2022.

The attendees from North Georgia were Mary Rob Plunkett, Associate Athletic Director, Business/SWA, Dan Evans, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Chris Adams, Head Women’s Soccer Coach, Rich Pruett, Director of Sports Performance, Adam Blake, Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, and Rob Shamblin, Sports Performance Graduate Assistant.

The Nighthawk staff members were able to go to the summit thanks to Dr. Jim Crupi, a member of the UNG Board of Trustees and a distinguished alumnus of North Georgia. Crupi is the president of Strategic Leadership Solutions and his consulting clients include Coca-Cola, AT&T, IBM, and many others.

As part of the summit, the attendees were afforded the opportunity to network with individuals representing MLB, NBA, and World Cup, as well as USA Swimming and other international sports organizations. The summit also had leaders from outside of sports, including the military, the medical field, and human performance.

“There were many takeaways for me,” said Evans. “One of the most impactful takeaways was from Mark Shapiro when he talked about the learning culture of the Toronto Blue Jays. He put an emphasis on perpetual improvement, stressed the importance of humility and openness and talked about having a ‘battle expertise’ and not allowing people to believe they are experts in the field they are responsible for.”

During the summit, there was a case study from the military, delivered by Gen. Robert Neller of the 37th Commandant of the US Marine Corps. His themes included how to prevent complacency and innovating and sustaining elite levels of performance.

There were also speakers from Athletic Performance positions across professional sports, including Chelsea Lane, the Executive Director of Athletic Performance for the Atlanta Hawks, and David Tenney, High-Performance Director for the Orlando Magic.

“Tenney’s writings were instrumental in my development as a young coach,” said Pruett. “It was an honor to discuss his path and current position with him. Between him and Chelsea, they helped provide a simplistic approach to our complex environment, and I believe our staff would benefit greatly from hearing their perspectives.”

“I would like to thank Dr. Jim Crupi for allowing the amazing opportunity to be surrounded by incredible leaders,” said Adams. “It was an absolute honor to sit in those presentations! One of the biggest takeaways for me was how frequently each presenter communicated the same core values for their organizations: trust, good communication, the value of debriefing after performances and the value of differing skill sets and ideas.”

The Nighthawk staff members in attendance were the only intercollegiate athletics program present at the summit from the state of Georgia.

The Leaders Performance Institute connects senior industry leaders and creates essential market intelligence to professionally develop the sport on and off the field. The institute was launched in 2008 and is now the foremost global network in sport.

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