University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Blake, O’Malley participate in Big South Leadership Conference
07.14.2021 | Women's Soccer, Women's Basketball, Athletics News
ASHEVILLE, N.C – The Big South Conference hosted its annual leadership conference this past weekend, with UNC Asheville student-athletes Amanda Blake (Women's Basketball) and Courtney O'Malley (Women's Soccer) both participating.
The Big South Conference Student-Athlete Leadership Conference was developed in 2005 to bring together top student-athletes from the conference's member institutions and to provide them with leadership tools to use on their respective campuses during the year. This year, the council was held in nearby Black Mountain, North Carolina, from Friday, July 9 to Sunday, July 11.
"A big takeaway from this weekend for me was how to become a better leader, and what it means to be EPIC," Blake stated. "Each of these letters stand for a word that, when acted upon, will allow you to lead in a more impactful way. E- Experience P-Participate I-Image Driven C-Connection. Leading is an action."
Topics at this year's conference included leadership, transfer legislation and name, image and likeness. The council also included speeches from keynote speakers Sterling Brown, Timothy Alexander and Big South Commissioner Kyle Kallander.
"Not only did we get to hear incredible and inspirational speakers like Sterling Brown and Timothy Alexander, but the Big South Leadership Conference also pushed us to create relationships and experiences that we would have otherwise never had the opportunity to find," O'Malley stated.
Additionally, the council, which consisted of two members from each Big South school, was able to participate in activities like Spikeball, basketball, a ropes course, karaoke and more. Both Blake and O'Malley, who are members of the UNC Asheville Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), believe their time spent at the leadership conference will serve them greatly moving forward.
"The Big South Leadership Council is beneficial to student-athletes who may be considering it because it gives you a voice and a platform to lead and learn to lead," Blake stated. "Not only do you get to learn from others, but you get to help make necessary changes and improve the environment you love."
"We got to bounce ideas off of all of the other student-athletes about what they do or they want to do to build team culture while supporting their schools and communities," stated O'Malley. "I'll be able to bring back all of the ideas and information to my team, to UNCA SAAC, and to the entire athletic department that can hopefully benefit everyone."
