This fall, NHTI brought 60 new and returning student athletes to the school a few days early for its first ever Starters Leadership program – a two-day training intensive designed to encourage leadership qualities and also help the new students prepare for college life. Twenty-five NHTI faculty and staff mentors also volunteered to be part of the program. Each student-athlete was assigned a mentor, and mentors will continue to have both formal and informal connections with their students throughout the year.
The program included sessions on team-building, civility, goal-setting, influence and communication, led by Dana and Deb Hult of Core Trainings of Nashua. The students also took a workshop on academics with NHTI business department head Marty Hunt, and one on financial assistance with financial aid director Sheri Gonthier and Bursar Jess Bryan.
The Starters program is a collaborative effort between the Student Leadership Team and the Athletic Department at NHTI. Sport teams represented at the training included men’s and women’s soccer, men’s baseball, women’s softball and volleyball, co-ed golf, men’s and women’s cross-country, men’s basketball, and the spirit team.
“The Starters Leadership program was a huge success for our student-athletes working together for two wonderful days of training and workshops,” said Athletic Director Paul Hogan. “Our athletic department feels the Starters program will become a cornerstone for the future success of the NHTI teams both on and off the competitive field of play.”
A Starters program is already being planned for summer 2014 by the committee formulated to begin the next steps of the program, expanding the offerings and services provided for the NHTI athletic community. In addition, “we plan to offer some ‘spinoff programs’ for our fall athletes who were not able to attend our first Starters program,” Hogan said. “The plans and timing of the Starters program to be scheduled late August 2014 should help bridge the gap for our teams and athletes.”
