LAWRENCEVILLE – The Georgia Gwinnett Office of Athletics is proud to announce the launch of BE GREAT, a new student-athlete development program, in an effort to further fulfill the mission of Grizzly Athletics, which is to develop lifelong leaders of character through academic and athletic excellence.
BE GREAT, which will be administered by Assistant Athletics Director for Internal Operations Dr. Ian Potter, strives to support the growth of a well-balanced lifestyle for GGC’s student-athletes. The five core tenets of the program are growth, respect, exploration, accountability and transformation, and the program is designed to help student-athletes in the areas of academics, athletics, personal and career development and community service.
“I’m very excited to incorporate BE GREAT into our student-athletes’ experience at GGC,” Potter said. “The program is going to provide invaluable tools that will help them be successful both on and off the field. In addition to that, it will certainly help prepare them for life after college.”
“We take a lot of pride in our athletic success, but that’s only a small part of what we’re trying to accomplish here,” said Dr. Darin S. Wilson, GGC Director of Athletics. “We want to make sure that we do things in the right way, and BE GREAT is another part of that goal. This will help ensure that we continue to make a positive impact off the field and throughout the community.”
There are a number of components that will make up the program, beginning with programming that will encompass topics relevant to all student-athletes as well as programming that targets specific groups. For example, a freshman may attend sessions that focus on the rigors of being a student-athlete and managing time effectively, but a senior will participate in activities such as job interview training and an etiquette dinner. Meanwhile, the sessions for all student-athletes may focus on topics such as social media and drug and alcohol prevention.
In addition to programming, student-athletes will also have opportunities to get involved in leadership roles within Grizzly Athletics, including the continued sponsorship of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which serves as a liaison between student-athletes and athletics administration as well as an outlet for Grizzly student-athletes to participate in service events both on campus and around the community.
Service throughout Gwinnett County has long served as one of the cornerstones of Grizzly Athletics, and that too, will now fall under the BE GREAT program as well as the continued battle between GGC’s six varsity sports for the Grizzly Cup, which is annually awarded to the team that best exemplifies Grizzly Athletics’ core values of responsibility, sportsmanship, leadership, service and the pursuit of excellence.
A select number of student-athletes will also participate in the newly-formed Grizzly Leadership Academy, which will run over the course of the academic year. Those chosen to participate will be provided with advanced leadership training and support from IDEALS Student Athlete Leadership Team program, which will assist student-athletes in developing the skills and knowledge necessary to be effective and vocal leaders as they navigate the day-to-day responsibilities and challenges of team leadership.
“I’m especially excited about the Grizzly Leadership Academy and what it will offer to our student-athletes with high-potential in leadership,” Potter said. “Through a partnership with Jack W. Williams, who founded IDEALS, our student-athletes are going to receive the kind of training that will empower them to become positive role models for their teams and institutions.”
Graduates of the Grizzly Leadership Academy will then form the foundation of the Grizzly Athlete Mentoring program, which is set to begin in fall 2016. The mentors will guide incoming student-athletes from a variety of sports as they begin their first year with Grizzly Athletics.
For more on the BE GREAT program, please visit: http://www.grizzlyathletics.com/article/1154.php
