Student-athletes from across the Big 12 Conference came to Fort Worth this weekend for the fourth annual Big 12 Conference Leadership Summit.
The Summit began on Friday afternoon at the Hilton in downtown Fort Worth and is expected to continue until Sunday afternoon. One of the events involved the student-athletes hosting a scavenger hunt for children at Cook Children’s Hospital.
According to the Big 12’s website, “Student-athletes from each university representing nearly every league-sponsored sport at all 10 conference institutions will gather for three days of learning and discussion. No other conference in the country sponsors a leadership summit of this nature.”
The Big 12 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Dr. Prentice Gautt Student-Athlete Welfare Committee created the Summit in 2007. Last year’s Summit was hosted by Texas Tech in Lubbock.
The Big 12 Conference Board of Directors funds the program.
"The student-athletes from each school were nominated by their respective athletic administrators and coaches," TCU Assistant Athletics Director Mark Cohen wrote in an email. "The nominations are then submitted to the Big 12 office for their review and approval."
The TCU athletes involved this year include junior football player Chucky Hunter, senior football player Sam Carter, sophomore soccer player Makenzie Koch, senior women’s basketball player Latricia Lovings and junior swimmer Cooper Robinson.
Robinson said that he enjoyed the camaraderie.
“You get to meet other [athletes] from other schools,” Robinson said. “Everyone’s really supportive and nice to each other. It’s really friendly.”
According to Robinson’s profile on GoFrogs.com, Robinson was this year’s Big 12 champion in the 200 backstroke as well as TCU’s most valuable player.
The Big 12’s website also said that the Summit’s purpose “is to provide leadership opportunities for student-athletes, through targeted programming including diversity, leadership skill building exercises and analysis, self-awareness, communication, decision-making, problem solving and collaborative skills.”
One TCU athlete said that the summit was teaching her to become a more effective leader.
“To be a great leader, you have to be open,” Lovings, who finished third in the nation last season in blocked shots, said. “It’s just teaching me to be that person.”