Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 2 | October 2019

14 Inside Hokie Sports 300 Technology Drive Christiansburg, Virginia 24073 www.inorganicventures.com Makers of the world’s most accurate Certified Reference Materials Because the Hokies are such a big part of ours. Two of our PhDs as well as eleven key members of our service, production, and business teams hold degrees from Virginia Tech. When you’ve got the right talent in place, there’s no limit to how far you can go. Proud to support the Hokies’ teams. Their trip also included a stop at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center there in Colorado Springs.Theyvisitedwithseveralstaffmembers,includingSeanMcCann,aseniorsportspsychologist who talked specifically about preparing for the Olympic games, including the mental effects after the Games end. Also, the group heard from Lindsay Shaw, a senior sports psychophysiologist who discussed the impact of sleep, recovery andmental focus, along with Ron Brant, a high performance director. Brant talked about the importance of an all-encompassing training plan that includes sports performance, sports medicine and psychology. In addition, they met with renowned sport psychologist Karen Cogan, who has counseled numerous Olympic medalists. Of course, the trip wasn’t all physical and mental challenges. They toured the Air Force Academy campus, including the famous Cadet Chapel and worked out at the school’s athletics facilities. They also toured the Olympic Training Center, went on two different hikes, and they drove into Denver on a Sunday afternoon to take in a Colorado Rockies game. Of the student-athletes interviewed, all said that the time spent bonding with the student- athletes from other sports was their favorite part of the trip. Rogers and Pickering convene on campus a few times a week now. Banks, a native of Iowa, has been hanging out frequently with the others as well. “We clicked, and we got to know each other—and now I hang out with these guys since I came back,” Banks said. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, you went to a leadership event. You didn’t interact with anyone.’ … Afterward, you wanted to interact with them, and you want to support them in their sport and you want to check up on them. I’d definitely say that was my favorite part.” The goal of this leadership initiative wasn’t just to make the student-athletes better leaders. The Leadership Institute staff wanted them to take what they learned, bring it back to Blacksburg, and make their teammates better individuals and their teams better collectively. Judging from their comments, this group of Tech student-athletes plans to do just that. Small group of TECH student-athletes takespart in leadership retreat Continued from page 13 Many in the group of Virginia Tech student-athletes who went to Colorado Springs said that the ropes course at the Air Force Academy presented the toughest challenges on their six-day leadership retreat.