As a club at Center Grove, the Student Athletic Leadership Team is looking for different ways to make an impact on athletics and the Center Grove Community. S.A.L.T is a student-athlete-led organization that strives to increase interest in sport opportunities possible at the high school level. During their meetings, members and officers collaborate when it comes to organizing events, social media releases and other opportunities to bridge that gap between the community, students and athletes.
Assistant athletic director Katie Fisher is one of the sponsors for the group and said she enjoys being involved with the student athletes. Fisher said that the group started to get student-athletes in every sport involved with the community.
“SALT was formed to provide an additional student leadership piece in athletics. We wanted to give the student-athletes an opportunity to have a voice and share ideas to enhance the overall student-athlete experience,” Fisher said. “We try to have an athlete from each one of our sports including club sports such as dance and lacrosse. Our goal is to have student-athlete representation as well as create more community outreach.”
Student-athletes involved in S.A.L.T can find themselves contributing to the organization through different committees. Senior Wyatt Krejsa is a part of the social media committee and focuses mainly on improving student and community involvement and support of athletics here at Center Grove.
“There’s lots of different committees in S.A.L.T, and I’m on the social media committee. We make instagram posts and work for social outreach,” Krejsa said, “We are trying to get Center Grove athletics out there as much as possible, and social media is a major part of that.”
Alongside the various committees, some athletes in the group have been appointed into leadership positions. Senior Lara Phipps is the vice president of the group and oversees her fellow members experimenting with different ideas and crafting new events for various occasions.
“During meetings we split up into different committees and we plan certain events that are coming up or we brainstorm different ideas that could bring more crowds into sporting events at Center Grove.” Phipps said, “A lot of it is figuring out the small details about each event to make sure it runs smoothly.”
Community outreach is an important part of athletic programs in Center Grove. Senior Noah Coy feels that the atmosphere of games can have an impact on the way Center Grove athletes perform in their sport.
“I think S.A.L.T helps bring in a bigger crowd into games, positively impacting an athlete’s performance,” Coy said, “It improves engagement during games, and it helps athletes get involved with other sports besides the one that they are currently participating in.”
S.A.L.T has impacted the student-athletes involved in the organization as much as it has impacted the Center Grove Community. Krejsa came to Center Grove as a sophomore and found the group to help him better adapt to the environment at the school.
“It helped me connect more to the high school because I haven’t been here as long. I got here and was with the administrators and other athletes here at Center Grove,” Krejsa said, “It allowed me to earn a more responsible role on the wrestling team since I’m supposed to encourage people to go to matches to support the team.”
Student involvement in sporting events plays a vital role in the overall atmosphere when Center Grove athletic programs are competing against other schools. Senior Allison Cohen believes that athletes have been craving for that school spirit to back them once again.
“In a time like COVID-19, when we lost a lot of our school spirit simply because we couldn’t be around each other, it was really difficult,” Cohen said, “S.A.L.T is definitely striving to bring that school spirit back.”
