WATERVILLE, Maine - Colby College is the first NCAA Division III school in the country to conduct a leadership academy through the Janssen Sports Leadership Center. The Colby Leadership Academy develops and supports student-athletes and coaches in their continual quest to become world-class leaders in athletics, academics and life.

"The Janssen Sports Leadership Center provides the best and most comprehensive leadership training for college athletes in the country. I am thrilled to be able to partner with them to provide such high-level training for our students," said Marcella Zalot, Colby's Harold Alfond Director of Athletics. "It is pretty special that Colby is the first NCAA Division III school in the country to conduct a leadership academy, and I know the program will provide the support and skills our students need to effectively lead themselves, their teams and also be leaders on campus."

The comprehensive Colby Leadership Academy provides an ongoing and integrated approach to leadership development by targeting and training three distinct groups of student-athlete leaders (Emerging Leaders, Veteran Leaders, Leadership 360) and distributes the training with multiple modules offered throughout the school year to maximize learning, retention, and application.

The Emerging Leaders Program is designed for a select group of "high potential" sophomore student-athletes to develop into effective team leaders. The emphasis of the program is creating effective leaders by example while setting the stage for vocal leadership.

The Veteran Leaders Program is designed for a select group of juniors from all Colby teams. The program teaches student-athletes the critical skills and insights necessary to be effective vocal leaders.

Colby held Emerging Leaders and Veteran Leaders workshops on Sunday and Monday, September 9-10. There also was a workshop for coaches on the second day.

The Leadership 360 Program will be implemented at Colby next year. The program is designed for senior leaders who have successfully completed both the Emerging and Veteran Leaders programs. Leadership 360 focuses on applying leadership skills to positively impact the team, athletic department, campus and community at large.

In addition to the programming, the Leadership Academy also includes educational resources including The Team Captain's Leadership Manual and the online Team Captains Network for all participants to reinforce and extend the learning as well as an ongoing consulting retainer with the Janssen Sports Leadership Center for advice and troubleshooting various issues that arise throughout the year.

While Colby is the first Division III school in the country to implement a leadership academy, Janssen also helped develop academies at University of Arkansas, Baylor University, Colgate University, George Washington University, the College of the Holy Cross, University of Houston, University of Illinois, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Pittsburgh, St. Francis Xavier University (Canada) and Yale University.

Colby student-athletes attending the Veterans Program included: Leigh Fryxell, Paco DeFrancis, Alex Yorke, Emily Anderson, Matthew McKenna, Becca Herman, Lily Kramlich-Taylor, Sam Bachelder, Grey Benjamin, Jonathan Sommer, Chris Pratt, Nate Tolman, Victoria Abel, Caitlin Murray, Michelle Burt, Samantha Slotnick, Gabe Donahue, Brianne Wheeler, Paul Gallagher, Christian Romano, Bethany Weitzman, Charlie Leeds, Roy Simpson, Brittany Reardon, Emma Donohoe, John Dixon, Chris Greenlee, Kate Connolly, Ben Lewis, Katie Griffin, Katharine Eddy, Steve Carroll, Kate Pleasants, Anna Clifford, Matt White, Justin Ouimi, Natalie Fischer, Jonathan Kalin, and Trevor Shorb.

The Emerging Leaders Program participants included: Brendon Bourgea, Eva Lauer, Ray Zeek, Erica Pulford, Meaghan Lewia, Erin Caputo, Claire Dickson, Sara Miller, Robert York, Andrew Woonton, Madeline Hunsicker, Zach Padula, Connor Clancy, Kaitlyn O’Connell, Kellie Walsh, Caroline Keaveney, Carolyn Fuwa, Erin Maguire, Caleb Harris, Sam Glaisher, Paul Weinberg, Megan Michie, Emmie Lai, Kate Parsons, Jamie Wallace, John Hartigan, Peter Quayle, Tim Corey, Jessie Lunde, Sarah Kletzer, Ryan Bachur, Jeanne Barthold, Vincent Galea, Maddie Tight, Emily Brook, Amanda Findlay, Charlie Dupee, Caitlin Sperzel, Emily Harper, David Watson, Charlie Coffman, Jeff Hale, Whit Harwood, John Grimaldi, Shane Rogers, and Luke Duncklee.