2018 Lead Sports Summit recap
Holy cow. We wrapped the 2nd annual Lead Sports Summit this past week and it was nothing short of incredible. Before I get into event details, I just need to thank every single person that committed to this event, brought their A+ game, and most importantly, made a positive impact on the lives of teenage girl swimmers. Dr. Megan Cannon, Christen Shefchunas, Toni Armstrong, Jennifer Brunelli. Missy Franklin, Elizabeth Beisel, Lia Neal, Katie Meili, and Hali Flickinger were excellent compliments and megaphone to the messaging of the event.
A few changes we made from 2017 to 2018:
We moved our event from ATX to ATL. Our desire to be in a larger metropolitan area with a more accessible airport was a big reason for that and my roots as a UGA Bulldog played a small role in the decision to head to the southeast.
We grew the event by 2/3 and we invited a total of 126 girls to Atlanta, as well as also expanded the event by a day, starting it on Friday evening instead of Saturday afternoon. (The event runs through Labor Day weekend Fri - Mon).
We doubled the amount of speakers and specialists we work with.
We upgraded from a small conference room to a large ballroom because… why not?? :)
We added breakout groups for girls to choose from so they can dig deeper into topics they’re passionate about.
We doubled the amount of sponsor we work with - THANK YOU sponsors!
Overall we tried to improve every single aspect of the experience for our attendees.
It’s hard to say what my favorite part of the weekend was because there are so many impactful moments. One talk I was particularly impressed by was our Sports Psychology keynote by Dr. Megan Cannon. This was our first time working with Dr. Megan so I didn’t really know what to expect but I was very pleasantly surprised. She used science to speak on really relevant topics for the girls but also brought some humor and pop culture into the talk, which made it funny, engaging and really interesting.
To say I am exhausted is an understatement. I don’t think I’ve actually ever been this tired in my life. The logistics of an event of this size, the physical demands of set up, unpacking, packing, takedown, the emotional ups and downs of a culmination of a years worth of work. It’s just a LOT. I think it will take me weeks to really recover mentally physically and emotionally and I am looking forward to many nights in a row of more than 3 hours of sleep.
The 2018 Lead Sports Summit racap
I woke up the morning after our event with some of the best messages in my inbox (below). I think this makes it all worth it :)
Full recap video linked in this post.
“Kara Lynn, There are no words to describe how thankful we are for all the hard work you and your team put in to this past weekend. We were highly impressed with the professionalism, encouragement, and excellence that was displayed across all spectrums of this event.
Now, two days later after the event, our daughter is still telling us new information that she absorbed; facts she will have with her for the rest of her life. Because of your foresight and follow through, she is inspired to be even better than before. And quite frankly, has inspired us as parents. This mindset will not only make her a stronger athlete, but individual. And for that, we are grateful.”
“Hi Kara, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you so much for the wonderful experience my daughter had this past weekend. We’ve done the “swim camp” route before and she always had fun, but I was never sure if she actually learned anything, in or out of the pool - which was okay with me as long as she was having fun swimming. Your sports summit was a completely different experience. She came back all fired up. She loved talking to all the different swimmers and Olympians. She loved learning that all of them worry about school, and times, and friends and keeping a social life. She loved Elizabeth Beisel’s anecdotes, Missy’s heartfelt story, and watching Touch the Wall with people who understand the sport of competitive swimming.
I truly want to thank you for providing this wonderful opportunity for my daughter to interact with such accomplished, intelligent and driven women. What a great start to the school year and the racing season!”
