With the help of former professional football players and athletes, high school freshman and sophomore student-athletes are learning to become student leaders through a new pilot program offered by the San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum’s Champions Sports Academy, located in Balboa Park. The Champion’s Sports Academy is a youth educational sports training program developed by the Hall of Champions. Point Loma, Cathedral Catholic and Hoover high schools currently participate in the program that is administered through four, 90-minute workshops peppered throughout the fall sports season. If the program is found to be successful, it may be expanded to other seasonal sports. A group of about 20 students, three from each sport, are chosen by seasonal sports program coaches to participate in the new Champion Sports Corps student leadership program at each of the three schools. The program helps students set goals, identify personal leadership styles and includes a lesson on giving back to the community, said Aly Josephs, marketing account executive for the San Diego Hall of Champions. “It’s our hope that as [the students] progress through high school, they’ll turn around and help mentor and be good role models for other students,” Josephs said. The program includes working with professional athletes who are also giving back to their communities. La’Roi Glover, a former defensive tackle for the St. Louis Rams and a 1992 Point Loma High School (PLHS) alum, will help coach Pointers freshman and sophomore students. Former professional football player Gary Lee Shirk will also participate in the program at one of the schools, Josephs said. PLHS athletics director John Murphy said his students are excited about the program, which begins its second workshop this week. “We feel very blessed to be able to do the program with the Hall of Champions,” Murphy said. “I’m grateful that we could do that with our kids.” Miguel Angel Sauceda, a 15-year-old sophomore who is a member of the PLHS boys’ cross country team, said he likes the leadership program. “It makes me feel honored and great that I was selected … that people believe in me and that I can be successful,” Sauceda said. Ella Verhees, a 14-year-old PLHS freshman girls cross country runner, said the program has helped her establish big goals. “I set to work harder during training and to set better times and distances,” Verhees said. A teammate, 14-year-old Jewell Roth, said the Champion Sports Corps is helping her on the field and off. “[The program] motivates you to do something more,” Roth said. “It’s not just to run a race, it’s ‘Oh, I have to push myself because it’s something more beyond just running.’” Roth said the skills she learned during the first part of the program helped her motivate herself in everyday life in the way of writing essays and term papers, she said. Fourteen-year-old Caelle McKaveney, another PLHS cross country runner, said she was looking forward to the next session at Point Loma High. McKaveney said she wants to set a good example for other students. “I’m really honored and proud not only for myself but for my team and my teammates and my school,” McKaveney. “To see so many leaders come out of it, it’s amazing actually.” For more information, visit www.championssportscorps.com.