Developing Leadership Skills on the Fields and Courts

I have played varsity soccer and basketball every year at George School. Over these four years, the people on the teams have changed, the coaches have changed, but my love for these two sports has not. I’ve played soccer my entire life and basketball for most of it, and I knew I wanted to play both of these in high school. The tricky part of this is that I also play on two soccer teams outside of school, my club team and the Olympic Development Program team. But George School gives you the chance to do everything you want to do. I have continued to play on my soccer teams outside of school, travel all over the east coast for tournaments, hold leadership positions, and still play sports in school too. George School definitely gives everyone the opportunity to experience and try anything they want, and to be a fully well-rounded student and an athlete.

I think George School athletics especially taught me how to be a leader and grow these skills. Coming in as a freshman, I was a starter on both the soccer and basketball teams, which gave me a sense of leadership, but I was still a freshman. I was able to discover the balance between leading through my actions on the field or the court, with lessons learned from watching the seniors and more experienced players on the team.

I also learned how leadership changes depending on the team personnel. For example, our soccer team from my sophomore to junior year went from league semi-finalists, to being one of the lower-ranked teams. It was definitely a lot easier to lead and be positive when we were semi-finalists, but I was then able to learn how to lead when we faced adversity. All in all, my experiences and lessons I’ve learned through George School athletics will stay with me forever, and will especially come in handy during my college soccer career.

Lauren is a prefect and a day student from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She will play women’s soccer at Hamilton University for coach Colette Gilligan. Lauren has been a four-year varsity starter for the Cougars as well as an outstanding team leader.