Motorsports lawyer. Communications vp of an NFL crew. Collegiate athletic director. TV play-by-play announcer of an NBA crew. Professional soccer crew head coach.

While taking part Liberal Arts at Play, highschool college students from across the nation found all of these enjoyable and fascinating careers in sports activities — and much extra — are potential with a liberal arts schooling.

In its first 12 months, Liberal Arts at Play: Sports, Society, and Careers at Wabash College drew 80 candidates. The 24 college students invited to take part got here from Indiana, Arizona, California, Michigan, and Texas.

The week-long residential summer season camp was funded by the “Indiana Youth Programs on Campus Initiative” from Lilly Endowment Inc., and created particularly for pushed younger males, ages 15 to 16, concerned about a profession in sports activities.

Liberal Arts at Play (LAAP) mixed Wabash’s liberal arts curriculum with high-impact instructing practices to develop the talents in younger males that result in outstanding success in any respect ranges of novice {and professional} sports activities. These life expertise embrace the power to talk and write successfully, hear fastidiously, and assume critically.

“One of the big goals for the program was to connect with high school students early and get them excited and exposed the pathways college that it can take them,” mentioned LAAP program director Tyler Wade ’12, who can be the director of pre-college packages at Wabash.

“Our college-going rate as a state has continued to decrease over the years, and we want to see those numbers change,” he mentioned. “We want to see more students, including new majority students (underrepresented minority students, first-generation college students, and students who qualify for federal Pell Grants), pursuing higher education.”

“The Liberal Arts at Play program is a great opportunity, and one I wish I had when I was younger,” added Chase Justus, Wabash’s youth programming and outreach coordinator. “I don’t think I set foot on a college campus until my junior year. By that point, I was behind. Being able to explore campus earlier and learn more about the different career paths you can take with a degree will make a big difference for high school students.”

Camp contributors spent the week participating with Wabash college and employees who led periods using present points and subjects in sports activities as a automobile to introduce topics like economics, rhetoric, and psychology — core to the liberal arts. Guests included alumni and mates of the College who work in sports activities. They related their liberal arts experiences to their present work and engaged campers with discussions, case research, and numerous media productions.

Guests included Chris Carr ’82, director of efficiency psychology for the Green Bay Packers, Wes Zirkle ’98, sports activities agent and lawyer who represents many consumers in skilled sports activities together with two IndyAutomotive groups, and Joe Johnson ’11, founding father of Obvious Shirts.

“My biggest takeaway from the week was learning that there are so many opportunities in sports that I would have never thought of before,” mentioned Jaeden Pollack, a junior from San Francisco, California. “That’s something I am seriously considering now after going through the program.”

Camp contributors additionally had the chance to take part in two days of immersion journeys round Indianapolis, which included visits to the NCAA Headquarters, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis Colts Team Facility, and IUPUI’s Carroll Stadium for an Indy Eleven soccer recreation.

Connecting with friends by way of enjoyable hands-on studying experiences off-campus was certainly one of Cohen McClamroch’s favourite elements of LAAP.

“It was a good time,” mentioned McClamroch, a highschool sophomore from Crawfordsville. “I really enjoyed being able to meet a lot of new people and make friends from around the country who are interested in pursuing different careers in sports like me.”

JP Driscoll, a sophomore from Cedar Lake, Indiana, and the youthful brother of Brett Driscoll ’24, mentioned he’d suggest the LAAP program to different highschool college students who need to soar begin their faculty and profession searches.

“Wabash and a liberal arts education can prepare you for anything you want to do in your life,” Driscoll mentioned. “Join Liberal Arts at Play. It will help you learn a lot about yourself and all the different careers in sports.”

Based on the suggestions from college students and their mother and father in addition to the College’s companions who related with contributors all through the week, Wade mentioned he believes the primary 12 months of Liberal Arts at Play was successful and is raring for subsequent summer season.