Athletes As Leaders

Athletes as Leaders is a national violence prevention program from the Seattle-based nonprofit Futures without Violence that uses girls’ athletics’ teams practice time to engage young people in conversations around respect and healthy relationships. Almost ten years ago, Jim Jenkins, Community Safety Network advocate, teacher, and coach reached out to CSN to dedicate some of the girls’ swim team practice time to violence prevention, recognizing how important consent education is for young people.

Having just wrapped up our 8th year, what began as a violence prevention effort using Athletes as Leaders pre-written curriculum, is now a unique female athlete empowerment program with custom curriculum written anew each year by CSN. We discuss consent, healthy relationships, bystander intervention, sexism, and how to best support each other – and whatever other topics are plaguing young female athletes.

In 20-minute increments across eight sessions, this program uplifts athletes’ unique leadership styles and gives them skills to navigate tough conversations and dynamic environments.