Leadership development for athletes ages 14–17
Pressure reveals character.
TSLA helps athletes discover how they will respond. Through active challenges, thoughtful questions, reflection, and repeated practice, young athletes build leadership behaviors they can carry into sport, school, home, and relationships.
Not a lecture. A guided experience athletes can carry into sport, school, home, and relationships.
A recognizable need
Leadership becomes visible under pressure.
Young athletes face intense expectations, constant evaluation, and fewer opportunities to slow down, reflect, and work through difficult moments. TSLA gives them a place to practice those skills intentionally.
Communication under pressure
Learning to ask, listen, speak clearly, and contribute when the moment is difficult.
Ownership after mistakes
Looking honestly at a choice, learning from what happened, and deciding what to do next.
Confidence through action
Building confidence through participation, reflection, problem-solving, and purposeful adjustment.
Mistakes happen. What happens next matters.
Guided Discovery
Athletes experience the lesson before being given the answer.
Voyagers participate, notice, discuss, reflect, and choose a Next Step. The discovery belongs to them—which helps it travel beyond the room.
01
Encounter the challenge
A task makes communication, trust, perspective, or ownership visible in real time.
02
Discover what happened
Voyagers compare approaches and recognize that different people may see and solve the same problem differently.
03
Carry it forward
Reflection in the Navigator’s Log turns the experience into one practical behavior and an owned Next Step.
One connected development path
A launch experience followed by continued practice.
TSLA is not a one-day motivational event. Voyagers return to the same discoveries over time and apply them in sport, school, home, and relationships.
01
Expedition Launch
A 6–7-hour in-person experience using movement, discussion, Guided Discovery, and reflection.
02
Eight weekly sessions
30–40 minutes each to revisit discoveries, apply them in daily life, reflect, and adjust.
03
Take-forward tools
The Navigator’s Log, reflection prompts, and an owned Next Step help make growth visible.
For
Athletes ages 14–17
Cohort
20–30 Voyagers
Formats
Boys, girls & coed
Inquiries
E.U., U.S. & Canada
Partner and course inquiries are welcomed from the E.U., U.S., and Canada.
Character made visible
Values become meaningful through repeated choices.
Through Guided Discovery, Voyagers turn Ownership, Courage, Honesty, Authenticity, Ambition, Teamwork, and Hard Work into visible behavior.
Not answers delivered from the front of the room: activity, open questions, reflection, and a Next Step owned by the Voyager.
- ✓ Take ownership of choices and actions.
- ✓ Communicate when pressure rises.
- ✓ Learn from mistakes without being defined by them.
- ✓ Understand perspectives beyond their own.
- ✓ Persist with reflection and adjustment.
BUILT FROM EXPERIENCE
Jamie Schock
TSLA Founder and Education Director. Focused on developing the whole athlete—not only the player.
Experience that understands athletes.
- 40+ years developing athletes across multiple sports.
- 25,000+ athlete engagements across youth-development and competitive environments.
- Coach education: USSF A License, USC Premier Diploma, National Youth License, and U.S. Soccer Coach Educator.
- Organizations of 200–2,500 athletes: leadership across clubs, teams, camps, and workshops.
- 40+ years in alpine skiing and coaching as a certified alpine ski instructor and race coach.
The journey forward
Who is the athlete becoming?
Every setback can become one step closer to success when a young person has the space, language, and support to learn from it.
What is one choice you are making today that your future self will thank you for?
Pursue your individual best. Leave better equipped than when you arrived.
Parent and coach perspectives
What parents and coaches have seen.
Today’s Expedition Launch brings together the strongest activities, discoveries, and lessons developed through years of work with athletes, parents, and coaches.
“Coach Schock develops young athletes into stronger people and players.”
Katy B. — Parent
“His lessons helped her grow into a leader on and off the field.”
Rosa R. — Parent
“The best leader I’ve worked with—a mentor and educator.”
Scotty C. — Coach
“You made an everlasting impression on who I am—not just as a coach, but as a person.”
Conner G. — Coach
Feedback from parents and coaches who experienced earlier workshops and development activities that helped shape today’s TSLA Expedition Launch. Excerpts edited for length and clarity.
Choose your path
Interest begins with a conversation.
For athletes and families
Individual
Join the Voyager Interest List. Tell us where you are and the age of your athlete. We will share future Expedition Launch and course opportunities as dates and locations are confirmed.
For coaches, athletic directors and club leaders
High School or Club
Bring TSLA to your organization. Explore a partner-hosted Expedition Launch and connected eight-week development path for 20–30 Voyagers. Cohorts may be organized for boys, girls, or coed groups based on partner needs and local interest.
Express interest
Help us identify where future courses should launch.
Submitting interest is not registration and creates no obligation. A parent or legal guardian should submit information for an athlete under 18.
For athletes and families
Individual
Receive announcements when course dates and locations near you are confirmed. Parent or guardian: please enter your own name and email.
We use this information to respond to your interest and understand potential course locations. We do not sell personal information.
For coaches, athletic directors and club leaders
High School or Club
Tell us about your organization. TSLA will send the Partner Overview most relevant to the athletes you serve. Please use your work email.
TSLA will review your information before sending the appropriate Partner Overview. Submitting this request creates no obligation.
Questions
What families and partners should know.
Is expressing interest the same as registering?
No. The interest list helps TSLA identify demand, locations, and timing. It creates no obligation and does not reserve a place. When a course is confirmed, families receive full details and a separate registration link.
What is Guided Discovery?
Voyagers encounter a challenge, notice what happened, consider different perspectives, reflect, and choose how to apply the discovery. The Guide uses questions rather than simply giving the answer.
Can an individual athlete participate?
Yes. Families may join the interest list now. TSLA will share relevant individual, partner-hosted, hybrid, and future online opportunities as they are confirmed.
The Sports Leadership Academy
Better Leaders. Better Athletes.
thesportsleadershipacademy.com
Privacy Notice
TSLA collects information submitted through these forms to respond to inquiries, evaluate interest in future programs, and send the Navigator’s Note or program updates only when separate consent is provided. TSLA does not sell personal information. Requests to access, correct, or remove submitted information may be sent to [email protected].
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