We've put together a panel of amazing celebrity athletes to help size up the competition. Learn more about each judge and how sports have helped them become inspiring leaders on their team and in their community.
Sport: USA Swimming
Position: 200m backstroke discipline
College: University of Michigan
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
Swimming has shown me how to overcome life's challenges by proving to me that I can push myself and my body to achieve things that I never thought possible.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
I've learned to lead by example in the pool. If you're constantly training hard, swimming fast and doing things right then people around tend to follow suit.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
My favorite volunteer activity so far has been a visit to the Mattel children's hospital in L.A. I got to visit with the kids, talk to them a little bit and show them my medal. The smiles and laughs were unforgettable.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
If we all constantly follow the ideal that we should leave our environment in better shape than we came to it, in any way possible, then everyone is better off. It is how we continue the cycle that was shown to us by the people who gave back to us.
Sport: Soccer
Position: Striker
College: Boston College
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
Soccer was always an outlet for me, no matter what else was going on in my life. I could have fun while still going through difficult times when I was younger. It gave me something to focus on for my future, it gave me a goal.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
Lead by example. Showing your commitment and determination while having a positive attitude rubs off on your other teammates.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
Going to the elementary school in Washington DC and helping children with their extra-curricular activities. I loved seeing the joy in the kid's faces that they're interacting with professional athletes and it really means a lot to them. If I could have been in their position when I was young, that would have really moved me as well.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
I've grown up in a situation where I can relate to a lot of kids that don't have the best upbringing and I feel it's important that they have someone or something to give them hope. To know that they can make it too, if I did. Being able to latch on to a goal is important.
Sport: Beach Volleyball
Position: Left Side
College: University of Southern California
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
Sports have shaped the person I am. I have a never give up attitude with life and sport.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
Leading by example is the best way to lead. If I work the hardest on the team, others will follow.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
Being a part of the SOS children’s village in Phuket, Thailand.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
It is so important to give back to the community because sometimes it only takes one special person or moment in a person’s life to change the way they think or feel about themselves.
Sport: Basketball
Position: Point Guard
College: University of Kentucky
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
Basketball has showed me that there will always be adversities, but the key is to find the ways to overcome those adversities when they arise.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
A leadership tactic I have learned is knowing everyone’s personality and the ways to communicate with each individual differently.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
My favorite volunteer activity that I have participated in is helping build a playground with KaBOOM! in Detroit this past summer.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
It is important to give back to the community because I am blessed to be in this position and very thankful. As a result, I feel it is important to give back if you are blessed enough to be in a successful position.
Sport: Soccer
Position: Midfield
College: University of North Carolina
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
Sports, mainly soccer, has given me confidence off the field and helped me to work together with others and to work hard.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
Lead by example and show what you want others to do and be like. If they see you doing it then hopefully they’ll respect it.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
My favorite volunteer activity is visiting children in the hospital.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
It’s important to give in your community because we all need a hand at some point. Plus your community is where you live and who doesn’t want to help make it a great place to live?
Sport: USA Track and Field
Position: 400m specialist
College: East Carolina/Old Dominion/Norfolk State
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
With track and field being an individual sport, it taught me early in life that when things happen you can only blame yourself.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
I know that if I put 100 percent into my craft that it will eventually pay off. Through dedication and motivation we can control the outcome in sports and in life.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
I really enjoy going to schools and being a positive figure to the youth.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
When I was younger, I had people in my life to motivate me and be that positive role model. It’s always important to see positive people do positive things in the community they are from.
Sport: Basketball
Position: Forward
College: University of Connecticut
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
One of the most valuable lessons sport has taught me is how to handle failure. Training in Hall of Fame
coach Geno Auriemma's practices were some of the toughest yet rewarding times of my life. Everyday
he would put us in challenging situations that seemed to set us up to fail. But in the process of our team
battling to overcome these obstacles, we learned how to win. When we would fail, it would hurt, but we
couldn't let it bring us down. We had to quickly learn from it and figure out how to make it better the next
time. Because of these practices, day after day, we rarely lost a game in my entire college career.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
The best way to lead is to make sure first you are a good example of being the best you can be and then
also spend your efforts to help develop those around you. It takes work and intentionality to think outside of
yourself, but at the end of the experience...it's worth it. This "servant-leadership" style is now a lifestyle for
me and I attribute much of my success and satisfaction as a leader to this method.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
Being a counselor at a Christian Sports Ministry camp for college athletes. Athletes in Action is a Christian
Sports Ministry and offers camps for male and female college athletes throughout the year. After being a
camper in '08, I worked as a student-counselor for the next two summers (two weeks each year). Helping
other athletes learn what it means to incorporate Faith and Sport was an amazingly rewarding experience.
For me, watching people's lives change right in front of me was so much better than the two week vacation
I could have taken.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
One of the best ways to show love and grow into a humble human being is to give. I have been very
blessed to have had so many people sacrifice and help me to grow into the person I am today. Coming
from a middle-class, single-parent home, I benefited from the generous people in my extended family,
sports family, and community growing up. I understand the importance of providing opportunities for those
in need, and that's why I take so much joy in giving.
Sport: Basketball
Position: Point Guard
College: Wake Forest University
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
The camaraderie and bond that I've been able to build through teamwork and sports has been a valuable tool throughout my high school, college, and professional career when I've had to deal with life challenges.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
Because I'm the point guard of my team, I have to have good communication skills both on and off the court.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
I love getting out in the community and enhancing the lives of kids and families by promoting education, health, sports and social responsibility for youth and families. I helped start and afterschool program in New Orleans called the CP3 Afterschool Zone and I also love participating in my annual CP3K Walk for Kids.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
We all have a social responsibility to participate in nurturing of our society.
Sport: Beach Volleyball
Position: Left Side
College: University of Southern California
How has sports helped you overcome life's challenges?
I've learned what hard work and perseverance can do for someone, in and out of sport. That along with the
confidence I've gained from competing in my sport has given me the tools to deal with most of the challenges
life has thrown at me.
What's a leadership strategy/tactic you've learned from participating in sports?
The biggest leadership lesson I've learned is that being a leader doesn't mean being in control all the time. To
be a good leader you have to know how to work together well with your team and sometimes that even means
knowing when to follow.
What's your favorite volunteer activity that you've participated in?
I love going to schools and talking to kids about my experience in the Olympics and how much hard work it
took, but how it was all worth it. They are so impressionable which is why I feel informing them about diet and
exercise is also important and makes me feel like I'm doing something that could potentially affect lives for the
better.
Why is it important to give back to your community?
Because we've all, as athletes, been helped by so many to achieve our success it's now our duty to pay it
forward. Helping people is also the key to making this world and, more specifically, our communities a better
place for us all to live.
dosomething "Committed some sick code" - weekly accomplishment at staff meeting by @aaronschachter May 8 3:04pm · reply · retweet · favorite
dosomething There r over 50 million hungry Americans. U can do something small to help & apply for a $2k scholarship http://t.co/UZScZnLxkX #pbjamslam May 8 2:58pm · reply · retweet · favorite
dosomething "Complacency is the death of possibilities" May 8 2:44pm · reply · retweet · favorite
dosomething Common Application: Let Students Submit Videos to Showcase Their Creativity to Colleges http://t.co/JEdIB0M0Fj cc @commonapp May 8 2:40pm · reply · retweet · favorite
dosomething Shout out to DS member Katie who donated 61 items to the San Fran Food Bank http://t.co/HjwvHQaa1g #welovekatie! http://t.co/BfRt8h3kjF May 7 7:40pm · reply · retweet · favorite
