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Varsity
Leadership
Academy

Helping Youth Rise Above to Become Value-Driven Leaders

Varsity Leadership Academy (VLA) believes that leaders who make an impact are defined by understanding their “why.” Our mission is to help high school students grow in their leadership and find the values that drive them, so they can transform their teams and communities for good.

The

Need

Gen Z is facing a unique set of challenges due to the aftermath of the pandemic and a tense political climate, in addition to personal challenges such as instability at home.

74%

deal with feelings of loneliness

66%

experience feelings of high anxiety

35%

admitted to suicidal thoughts in the last 3 months

*Global Youth Culture: Insights from a Digital Generation, OneHope. USA Data. Please note these are not necessarily clinical levels of depression or anxiety. Teens interpreted for themselves the terms provided and self-reported if they felt they had experienced them.

The

Solution

Gen Z is one of the most cause-driven generations. They want a noble challenge and to create change.

By pairing them with leaders from the community, we can equip them with values that lead to transformation. We believe we can empower the next generation to make a positive impact on themselves, their teammates, and the world around them.

Outcomes

We believe in measuring the impact of values-based leadership and working to continually improve the Academy so that we can reach and raise up more Varsity Leaders. These are our core outcomes we aim to deliver on:

Bridges to Belong

Teams grow in unity and help others feel seen and valuable
Bridges to Believe

Students grow in their leadership and belief in their influence
Bridges to Become

Students know how to use their influence to reach out and serve others

Pillars of VLA Transformation

We help students and teams take their leadership to the next level with a 6-session per semester program that helps them learn values they can take with them even after graduation.

Leadership Values

Through our student-led, facilitator-guided course, students will build emotional intelligence, resilience, accountability, and unity with self-assessments and application steps weekly.

Influence by Community Varsity Leaders

VLA community leaders, also known as facilitators, will guide students on a weekly basis and serve as a mentor and resource for their growth. They will empower students to self-evaluate and apply leadership values to help others in the community.

Learn more about our program

Outreach and Servant Leadership

Students will put the lessons into practice by serving their local community through a strategic bridge-building outreach, with the goal of carrying these values of service well beyond the program.

The Varsity Leadership Academy has proven to add value to our program and the lives of the student athletes involved. Their weekly interaction and attendance speaks volumes of the quality of the material. We are grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this program.

VLA has been amazing! The girls are loving it. They are all sharing and taking turns reading and practicing their highlighted value throughout week.

VLA has been a great addition to our student athlete leadership program at Ennis High School. The resources and material that has been provided by VLA has given our student group valuable information to generate discussion and learning over many important character traits. VLA has been a great experience for us, and I look forward to continuing to work with them to create leaders in our youth!

I have had several moms stop me around town and tell me how much they appreciate the Varsity Leadership group time with the baseball team. hey all said their boys came home mentioning something that was said during that time and it has been impactful for their families.

As a father, I witnessed my 5 year old son who wants to be a baseball player ‘when he grows up’ see an example of high school baseball players using their influence to serve others in their community. They showed that they aren’t “too cool” to help a younger kid and helped set the bar high of what it means to be an athlete who makes an impact. I was a proud and grateful father that day, knowing my son has good role models to look up to in his community.

Community Varsity Leaders / Facilitators

Our community varsity leaders, also known as facilitators, act as guides that inspire students to lead with their values, participate in interactive team discussions, and set actionable goals for leadership development and service in their community.

Get Your Team Started with VLA

Are you a high school coach, admin, or other school leader that wants to get your team involved in VLA? By signing up, you’ll help your students access resources to build bridges and grow in their self-confidence. Once you fill out a form, we will set up a meeting with you to go over all the details.

Support the Movement

Your generosity enables us to reach the future leaders in our community.

By providing a scholarship, one-time, or monthly donation, you can help us reach and raise up high school students and give them the tools to belong, believe, and become value-driven leaders.

The model of VLA is the most effective, transformative program I have ever participated in or led. Facilitating a team of high school athletes and coaches from a set of individuals to a dynamic collective unit is remarkable and extraordinary. This is what VLA produces: a unified team that has real, proven results on and off the field.

We appreciated the team’s holiday spirit when they volunteered to wrap gifts for our seniors. These gifts were distributed to seniors that are in nursing homes or homebound. Without these gifts, they may not have received anything for Christmas. Having them wrapped with care made them an even more special treat. It meant a lot to have these young people involved. Our seniors like to know the younger generations care about them. We look forward to having them involved and hope to see them next year.

The City of North Richland Hills was privileged to have the help of the Birdville High School baseball team this past fall during our annual Fix It Blitz. They helped two of our elderly residents with yard work that without them would not have been accomplished. The team took tasks that were hard for the most skilled, professional landscapers and accomplished them with a smile. We cannot wait to have them out again in 2023 to help a few more of our residents!

Our facilitator Suzette did an awesome job for us. The girls really enjoyed working with her, and she really knows how to get kids thinking and participating. Like anything else, I think the success is dependent on who is working with the students. I hope Suzette will come back and work with us again.

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