Purpose, group involvement and leadership are some of the behavioral principles the development coach for Park’s athletics department Kevin King said he teaches his student captains.

“In addition to our classroom meetings, I try to meet with the captains one-on-one, and I attend practices and games to show my support and get to know them outside of class,” King said.

King said fall, winter and spring captains are trained in leadership behavioral principles such as culture, core values and attitude.

“I am really proud of how engaged the captains are in learning and applying the material,” King said. “We have a saying, content without execution is just content. The students make an effort to not only learn the material, but they find ways to apply it uniquely to their sport and/or a personal situation,” King said.

Senior girls’ softball captain Annabelle Schutte said she learned what it means to be a leader and what it requires for her sport.

“I feel much better informed and feel like I am more knowledgeable about being a leader and what it takes,” Schutte said.

According to King, the captains use the leadership sessions to share ideas and ask questions about how they can improve.

“When (the captains) provide examples to me of how they are using the content, it makes me very proud and honored to be their leadership coach,” King said.

According to Schutte, learning about the culture of the teams and how to set goals and values came from the help of guest speakers King brought to their sessions.

“We got to hear a lot of guest speakers who talk about their experience in positions where they had to decide the culture and work with the staff to put it in place,” Schutte said. “It was all very helpful in making it a realistic experience where we could use it with our sports and in life in general.”

According to King, he began working with Park in August 2017 and recently relocated to St. Louis Park from La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he had been a professor in the Sport Management program at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse since 2014.

“I was operating a leadership and media consulting agency called Premier Teambuilding Solutions and wanted to make a difference in the St. Louis Park community, so I called Park’s athletics director, Andy Ewald, to learn more about the school and community,” King said.

Having completed his first year, King said he enjoyed speaking with the captains of all 26 sports at Park.

“I have also learned so much about sports that I was unfamiliar with like synchronized swimming, nordic ski and lacrosse,” King said.

According to King, he meets with captains 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.every Thursday for eight weeks during their season. King said currently there is a six week off-season program and is meeting with the 2019 fall season captains.