Last Friday, the head coaches and the athletic department staff met for a day-long professional development and team-building meeting. The goal of this summer's meeting was to help align the mission of our athletic programs to provide the highest quality opportunities for our student-athletes. Middle school and high school coaches collaborated on ways to create seamless transitions from youth sports to high school athletics, establish mentor opportunities for our younger student-athletes, and develop strategies of support for the various teams across all grade levels. In addition to collaborating on a common vision, coaches used the development meeting to voice the needs and wants of their programs and create a clearer understanding of what each tier wants to provide to their student-athletes. A common theme that ran through all of the discussions throughout the day was the commitment to use sports as an avenue for fostering growth, building confidence, and developing character in our athletes. All of the coaches agreed that a successful program should help kids not just build the skills of that sport, but leave them more capable of navigating the trials and tribulations that life outside of athletics will throw at them. To cap the day off, coaches and athletic staff headed to Pins Mechanical in downtown Indy. Duckpin bowling still brought out the competitive spirit among the group, and Coach Fangman's squad was crowned the duckpin champion after a heated game on the lanes.