Ryan Hamilton
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Not surprisingly, Wittenberg University men's swimming and diving standout Ryan Hamilton, class of 2009, thoroughly enjoyed a recent trip to Florida - just not for the usual amusement park reasons.
Hamilton attended the 10th annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Foundation Leadership Conference May 28-June 1 at the Coronado Springs Resort and Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. It is the fifth straight year that Wittenberg has been represented at the conference, which draws more than 350 NCAA student-athletes each year from across the country.
"I have been to several leadership camps and conferences so I had a certain mold I expected this conference to fit," said Hamilton of Mount Vernon, Ohio. "I figured the ideas and concepts introduced would be similar to past camps. Previous camps emphasized that 'everyone can get along' if we recognize we all are different. But this conference delved deeper by teaching us to analyze traits and tendencies of various personalities."
In his first year at the collegiate level, Hamilton scored points for the Tigers in the ultra-competitive North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet in February. The Tigers moved up one spot to fifth place in the 2006 meet, which included the top two teams in the nation and more than a dozen individual national qualifiers.
The conference included student-athletes like Hamilton from NCAA Division I, II and III schools who have been identified as current or future leaders on their campuses and in their communities and offered them fresh ways of thinking about leadership. The conference is annually billed as one of the largest non-competitive gatherings of NCAA student-athletes, and it has been designed to enhance leadership and communication skills.
Hamilton said he learned a lot about himself and his leadership capabilities during the conference. Attendees learned about five different types of leadership styles: challenging the process, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, modeling the way and encouraging the heart.
"This conference was more than I expected for several reasons," he said. "First, it really showed me what areas of leadership I am strong in and made clear my weaknesses in the five leadership types outlined. Second, I learned I can relate to problems of athletes no matter what division their school participates.
Ryan Hamilton dives into the water during a January race in the HPER Center Natatorium
"Finally, by listening to other athletes, I was able to formulate a plan for problem-solving in my own encounters at Wittenberg. Knowing what type of tendencies I have as a person will help me be a better leader. Now that I know how I am prone to act in a situation, I can change an adverse action before I do it."
During the conference, participants discussed such topics as sportsmanship, public perceptions of student-athletes, conflict resolution, student-athlete mental health and social responsibilities. They discussed division-specific issues and potential career direction, and the student-athletes also participated in team-building initiative games at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.
A total of 39 coaches, athletics administrators and program facilitators joined the student-athletes at the conference, as Wittenberg Director of Athletics and Recreation Garnett Purnell did when he made a presentation at the 2003 event.
Representatives of each division's national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which provides feedback to NCAA committees and councils regarding student-athlete issues, led discussion sessions and group activities during the conference. Four student-athletes and one administrator representing the America-Israel Friendship League were involved as well.
"I learned that my strongest traits are modeling the way and inspiring a shared vision," Hamilton said. "I will continue to lead by example as a student and as an athlete on the swimming and diving team.
"My weakest area is challenging the process. I will use this new knowledge about myself to challenge the bar of mediocrity and step up to the challenging opportunities in the classroom and in the swimming pool. This is something I will work on not only at Wittenberg but back home in Mount Vernon."
Mark Trempe, a 2003 graduate and a former all-conference track and field performer, represented Wittenberg at the 2002 conference; Kyle Dunaway, a 2004 graduate and an all-conference swimmer, represented Wittenberg in 2003; Raymar Hampshire, a 2005 graduate and an all-conference football player, made the trip in 2004; and Meghan O'Rourke, class of 2008 and the starting goaltender on the women's soccer team, was in Florida for the 2005 conference.