If You Build It, They Will Lead!
Writer / Whitney Mucha
SPARTA (Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, Training Academy) is an elite training facility in Fishers best known for services that include sport-specific coaching, performance training, fitness programs, and sports counseling. Local and regional athletes, sports teams, families, and individual members are improving their performance and fitness levels at SPARTA.
In addition to the sports and performance aspects of SPARTA, owner and boxing coach Luke Dunnuck had a vision to create a leadership program for junior high and high school students. The goal is to empower youth leaders by giving them the tools and confidence for personal and organizational purposes. These youth will positively influence their friends, families, and communities. It’s peer pressure in the most positive format: great leaders creating more great leaders. That vision became a reality this summer when the pilot group began their first-level training. Created in partnership with Will Drumright, sports psychology coach, the SPARTA Junior Mentor Program was born.
The program is designed to be a journey through three levels of certification beginning with the I5/C5 level. This first level of training includes 10 sessions of personal and organizational leadership development (I5: Identity, intentional, influence, interpersonal, inclusive; C5: Character, competency, capacity, chemistry, culture.) After participants are certified in this first level of training, they will move to the second level where they inspire other students to join the program and develop their leadership skills. This second level ensures that training gets put into action and participants are able to mentor new participants. Level 3 certification will complete training for participants to achieve Senior Mentor status. Dunnuck shared, “You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can’t count the apples in a seed! Senior Mentors will significantly impact the world. These great leaders will build other leaders, not followers.”
The pilot participants are already praising the impact of the SPARTA Junior Mentor Program on all aspects of their lives. “This program builds leaders. It made me think about who I am at my core, which I had to figure out in order to become a great leader,” said Patrick Lehmann, Class of 2015 Culver Military Academy. The program is also gaining praises from successful adult leaders. Senator Jim Merritt, Majority Caucus Chairman, said, “SPARTA’s Junior Mentor Program is putting young people on a path to leadership. These kids are finding their purpose and being equipped to not only lead but to build new leaders. I couldn’t be more excited about the young leaders coming out of this program who will have a positive impact on their families, peer groups, sports teams, and the schools they attend.”
Drumright encourages interested students to contact SPARTA for more information: “Take action in your life and don’t just be a bystander. The positive influences of this program will impact your school performance, sports performance, and performance in life.”
Contact Luke Dunnuck or Will Drumright at SPARTA, located at 10080 East 12first Street in Suite 157, or at 317-842-2933. Additional information may also be obtained at spartaindy.com or by email at info@spartaindy.com.
