Global Players- Coaching and Leadership Program

Name: Global Players- Coaching and Leadership Program
Brand: Global Players
SKU: 52155
Rating: 10 (3 reviews)

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This Global Players program is for the student-athlete that seeks a future leadership role in coaching, teaching and management. Student-athletes on this program use their sport as bridge to different cultures while learning how to lead. Those participants that are selected are considered ambassadors not only for their country but specifically for their sport while abroad. This internship runs for 8-10 days depending on the location and year of choice. Past participants have gone onto enjoy successful careers in a variety of fields from coaching to administration.

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Traveling, Playing, & Coaching abroad with Global Players was an extremely influential trip in my life and career. With Global Players you learn you to be an informed and global traveler (not a tourist), and you are challenged to break out of your comfort zone to open your mind, communicate with those from new cultures & languages, and experience different ways of life by immersing yourself in each location's culture as you travel. Playing in the Berlin Open and WINNING the Prague Cup were a complete privilege and meeting & playing with or against lacrosse players from around the world was an amazing & fun learning experience. Planning, and leading coaching clinics for various schools & lacrosse clubs throughout Germany & Austria really challenged us to explore the way we communicate and teach the game when explaining drills and concepts to players of different languages and cultural backgrounds. This really helped me think about my communication methods when coaching the game and pushed me to be a better teacher and communicator. This experience was pivotal and influential in convincing me to pursue my passion of coaching as a career which I continue to do at the Division I level. Through leading & navigating us across different countries, providing the opportunity to play lacrosse with players from around the world, and growing the game by teaching and coaching lacrosse clinics for school students & lacrosse clubs, Global Players totally fulfills their mission of Learn, Play, Travel, & Serve, and I had the time of my life traveling with them and meeting all sorts of great people and new friends along the way. Furthermore, Global Players inspires you to continue your journey of traveling the world, as I was moved to go back to Europe a few years later to travel other parts of the world with my wife!

Global Players was the opportunity of a lifetime where I was able to combine two of my favorite things, travel and lacrosse. Seeing a different culture and helping expand a sport that has been such a large part of my life was amazing. Not only was it a great experience, but the Coaching Abroad Program caused a lot of personal growth. You develop interpersonal skills, along with public speaking and you become more open minded. The program also was a great addition to my resume, and has been a focal point of every interview I've been on. Not many people get the chance to spend a summer abroad, and even fewer are able to live abroad for a prolonged period of time. Global players allowed me to do both.

The trip overall was the best experience I've ever had the opportunity of doing. I made endless amount of friends both internationally and from the states. I learned more about Germany in 2 weeks of just living there than I did in years and years of social studies class because Jess and Tara really focus on being "travelers not tourist" so you really get yourself immersed in their culture. It was unreal and you'd be silly to pass up a one in a lifetime chance!

What would you improve about this program?

If I had to change one thing I would change the length of time we are all together before we split into our different program groups. It would have been cool to stayed in Berlin a little longer with the group all together.

Alumni Interviews

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Dan Lang

Program

Global Players- Coaching and Leadership Program

Dan Lang is 27 years old and works for NBC Sports in New York City. He travelled with the Global Players to Germany (Munich/Berlin), Czech Republic (Prague), and Austria (Graz, Vienna), from mid-June 2010 to mid-July 2010. Dan spent his college year’s playing lacrosse and majoring in communications: Radio/TV/ and Film, at Marist College, where he got the urge to travel abroad again. Being committed to his lacrosse team, he couldn’t spend an entire semester abroad, so he participated in a short term study abroad program in South Africa. After graduating in 2009, Dan couldn’t get rid of the travel bug and longed to explore more, he was put into contact with the Global Players organization through a fellow Marist lacrosse player.

Why did you decide to go abroad with your provider?

I really enjoyed going abroad in High School and in College, both times were for different reasons. The first, traveling to Italy with my high school’s tour choir, we were privileged to sing in the Vatican, and in a few opera houses around Italy. The second, I traveled to South Africa and studied the country’s media practices for a research paper and performed community service in Cape Town.

Global Players allowed me to go abroad, teaching and playing lacrosse, a game that has been such a large part of my life since I’ve been in middle school. The idea of playing in tournaments in Berlin and in Prague was extremely intriguing. The playing wasn’t the only thing that drew me to the program, being able to run clinics, and have the opportunity to refine my coaching skills, was a major plus.

Where was your best photo take and what was it of?

One of my best photos, and favorites, was taken in Prague, Czech Republic. The picture was of an Angel statue sitting on the top of a building. This was one of my favorite city’s because it is still very medieval in its architecture. I took the picture because I felt that there was so much history and a part of me wondered how long that statue had been up there and how much history had he seen.

Being abroad, and visiting cities that have experienced so much history, really puts into perspective how young the United States really is. Everywhere you look there was a building that was just aw inspiring.

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What is one piece of advice you’d give future students traveling with your program?

The one piece of advice I’d give future students traveling with Global Players, is to be open and outgoing. While traveling abroad, you’re going to run into people and opportunities that will require you to step out of your comfort zone. Growing up I was a shy kid and it usually took me a while to become outgoing to people I wasn’t comfortable with. The lacrosse clubs and hosts are going to ask a million questions about going to college and playing sports in the states, open up and share you’re experiences, they are going to do the same.

The people you meet overseas have an opportunity to become great friends. I still talk to some of the players I interacted with to this day and have had them come visit me, here in the states. By being open and outgoing, you are going to make some of the greatest memories that will last you the rest of your life.

How has this experience impacted your future?

Traveling abroad has been one of the biggest influences on my life. In every interview I’ve been on, it is always a huge conversation starter. Being a part of the Global Players not only allowed me to see Europe, but it allowed me to share my knowledge of lacrosse to people that truly love the game and want to learn everything about it.

Running clinics in Graz, Vienna, and Munich strengthened my teaching skills which I still use today. Whether it is running group lacrosse lessons on the weekend, or training the interns at work, the things I learned with the Global Players will always stay with me.

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

What is your favorite travel memory?

Whenever I'm asked this, the first memory that comes to mind is of Jess (GP's other founder) and I traveling in Thailand in 2005.

We had dropped off our passports at the Vietnamese embassy to get visas prior to our flight the next morning. After dropping them off, we wanted to get in some last minute shopping. While in a little Thai shop, I glanced at the clock and it was after 5pm - the embassy would be closing/closed! Jess and I FREAKED OUT.

We waived down two Thai guys on mopeds and jumped on the back, backpacks and all. (How they knew where the embassy was is a mystery to this day?!) But lo and behold we get there and of course, it's closed. We sat on the curb outside and cried. Literally.

The gate next to the embassy started to open and a black sedan pulled up with tinted windows to go inside. I immediately started knocking on the window. The man inside kindly heard our [sob] story and decided to unlock the embassy and let us in.

He offered us a Coca-Cola to stave off the mid-afternoon Thai heat and processed our visas right then and there! Looking back, he was probably the ambassador or consulate himself, we were just too sweaty, shaken-up, and grateful to realize. And off we went to Vietnam on our fight the next day to continue the adventure...

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I understand the undercurrents of cultural relevance. I'm still working on mastering them, but I know they are there, and awareness is always the first step.

I also understand more profoundly the needs, desires, and even unknown outcomes of our stakeholders: Coaches, Athletic Administrators, International Offices, Parents, and most importantly, Student-Athletes themselves.

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What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

One of my favorite stories (because there are many) is the story of Meaghan Ross, our FIRST ever student-athlete to apply for a Global Players program. Meag had not even eaten ketchup, much less left the US, before going abroad with GP. She said she used to have Oreos for breakfast!

But she was FEARLESS in trying everything out of her comfort zone while she was abroad - from food to flying (i.e. bungee jumping in Innsbruk). Since studying abroad in Prague in 2009 Maeg has lived in Holland as an au pair, traveled to Cambodia and SE Asia as a photographer, come back to do her Masters (in Dutch), and is now traveling the world with her Dutch wife and documenting their journey through the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and more.

Maeg was inspired personally, and she inspired everyone around her including our leadership team. It is students like these who are the fuel for our souls.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

RIO! I am so excited to go to Brazil on our Rio program - for the food, the people, the culture, the dancing! I dance salsa, bachata, kizomba, and Brazilian Zouk in Amsterdam, so to dance with Brazilians will be another level. I don't think I will come back!

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

Global Players is unique because all participants self identify as either varsity or intramural/club student-ATHLETES. There is a beauty to seeing people transcend language and cultural barriers through the vehicle of sport.

There is something humbling about being a DI field hockey player getting crushed by 14-year-old Dutch boys but LEARNING every step of the way - technically, athletically, personally, and culturally. The same happens across the globe. Or maybe you are the one crushing it in your sport but then you are also TEACHING and growing the game.

I am especially proud of our team every time they encourage our participants to challenge the status quo. For example, one summer we were having a small-sided women's lacrosse training on a tennis court in the middle of a park in Vienna, Austria.

On the court next to us was a game of pick-up soccer with all guys from Morocco, Turkey, and Pakistan. We took the female athletes over and asked if we could join. The girls brought their A game. They were unfazed by playing with and against the men; they played hard, smart, fast, and fierce. The guys were surprised and impressed, but more importantly, Moroccan, Turkish, and Pakistani girls and women from all over the park came to watch the competition.

It was inspiring to know how many people would be subtly effected by this afternoon. This is the true essence of Global Players, which always makes me proud.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

A focus on MAKING MEANING first, not money.

About Global Players

Global Players (GP) is a program founded by student-athletes for student-athletes. Students can choose to study abroad in a variety of locations around the world, all while continuing to train and compete in their sport. Global Players' programs include a four pillar approach to study abroad-
learn, play, travel and serve. Compete and train in...

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Global Players- Coaching and Leadership Program

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