About the Academy
Founding Philosophy
The Julie Foudy & espnW Sports Leadership Academy (JFSLA) is a five-day, four-night residential Academy for girls ages 12-18. The Academy focuses on two overlapping components -- sports and leadership. The aim of JFSLA is to expose student-athletes to Julie’s great passion: the concept of not just being a LEADER IN YOUR SPORT but a LEADER IN LIFE.
Julie Foudy, the former USA Women’s Soccer Team Captain, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and two-time World Cup Champion, successfully launched JFSLA in the summer of 2006 along with her husband, Ian Sawyers, former head coach of the WUSA San Jose Cyberrays and the 2001 WUSA coach of the year, and their good friends Kerri McClellan, Edson McClellan, and Todd Smith. (Link to bios)
JFSLA's sports component started with soccer and now has added lacrosse, water polo, and basketball. As with Julie's day camps, the soccer staff of the JFSLA consists of some of the biggest names in women's soccer, including other Olympic Gold Medalists from the US Women's National Team, international stars, professional players, and top collegiate coaches and players. Student-athletes choose one sport to focus on for the week, but they do have an opportunity to “cross-over” and play another sport for an afternoon.
The second component of JFSLA is leadership. Our leadership curriculum is geared toward developing and expanding leadership skills in our student-athletes, who will participate in hands-on activities and do team-building exercises that focus on the following themes:
How to develop the confidence to lead and the different roles/ styles of leaders
How to be a positive leader on your team, regardless of your role
How to be a leader in your school and in the hallways
How to be a leader in your community (which includes a service learning project that each student can take to her own community).
How to bring all of that to LIFE!
Students will also hear from guest speakers, including business leaders, activists, and educators.
Although each day is divided into roughly half of each chosen sport and half of the leadership curriculum, JFSLA is designed so that the sports and leadership components go hand-in-hand. The lessons an athlete learns on the field of striving for goals, motivating others, and problem solving translate into leadership skills the athlete can apply off the field. By the same token, we introduce and work on leadership skills and concepts in the classroom that student-athletes can bring to the field to draw out the best in themselves and their teammates.
Our JFSLA philosophy is to bring out not only the best player, but also the best leader, in each student-athlete. Julie often says, "Sports gave me my voice." We want our student-athletes to experience the confidence sports can offer. And as Julie learned with the National Team...LOVE what you do! Laughter permitted.
espnW Partnership
As part of our continued efforts to engage with a younger audience and create a powerful connection with young female athletes, espnW partnered with The Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy to create a one-of-a-kind experience.
It is truly an immersive, inspiring, and informative week for the girls and a vision quest continued for espnW to have a presence and purpose where women of all ages are.
We look forward to seeing this partnership grow!
espnW: women’s sports x culture • for everyone
Curriculum
Learn from some of the best women’s soccer, lacrosse, basketball, and water polo players at the international, national, and collegiate level.
The Julie Foudy & espnW Sports Leadership Academy will not only use sports to teach leadership, it will use leadership themes to teach skill development on the field.
For example, if the leadership concept for the day is different styles of communication, we will work that theme into the sports-playing component. We believe that leadership skills learned on the field can translate into leadership skills off the field, and visa versa.
Leadership themes follow the EMPOWERrings of SELF, TEAM, SCHOOL, COMMUNITY, and LIFE. Read more about leadership in Julie’s book Choose to Matter (shameless plug!!).
Community Service
At every location of JFSLA, our student-athletes spend an afternoon performing a community service project.
Choosing to Matter in your own community is a foundation upon which our curriculum is built because learning the value of giving back in life is so important. The “pay it forward” approach embodied by JFSLA allows our student-athletes to see first hand that spending a couple of hours engaging in the community can change someone’s life (including your own!).
I hear, I forget. I see, I remember. I DO, I UNDERSTAND.
We want this to be interactive leadership learning! Live. Lead. Pass it on!
We encourage the student-athletes to take all these leadership concepts learned during the week and apply them to their community.
We think JFSLA has the power to be transformative. Hear what our parents and student-athletes have to say about their experience:
