TLA’s 5-Level Leadership Development Program - is a focused 2-3 journey that combines all of TLA’s programs into a systemized process that is geared toward providing athletes and non-athletes alike the essential life skills to achieve greatness in all areas of their lives. The foundation of this program is found in Level 3’s yearlong workshop series upon which everything else is based. Level Summaries are as follows:

Level #1: Weekly Quotes & Monthly Reflections - includes weekly leadership quotations that are sent to participants based upon a monthly theme. A monthly reflection based upon the quotes is then provided to encourage an active personal evaluation supported by reflection questions. This material and the participants’ responses are then integrated into the monthly workshops, and their mentoring sessions.

Level #2: "Journey of Excellence" Book List - offers a variety of texts and materials that are segmented into four core areas based upon the "Journey of Excellence" workshop series. Each text on the book list is then tied to a corresponding workshop segment that the participants are currently going through. The books and workshops are supplemented with periodic book reviews on key points, and an explanation as to how the participant will apply the concept or principle to his/her life. In addition, the text and corresponding workshop format prepares participants for college courses that are taught in a similar manner.

Level #3: 12-month "Journey of Excellence" Workshop Series - The monthly workshop series serves as the foundation for the 5-Level Program as our athletes partake on a yearlong "Journey of Excellence" focused on defining a dream for their lives, developing the mentality and skills to achieve it, and leaving a legacy of positive impact through their life’s mission. [More Details]

Level #3: Camp Strength - an intense 5-day camp program that utilizes our "Building Strength from the Inside-Out" concept by combining athletic performance and leadership development through weight and speed training, leadership workshops, and "Special Forces" team competitions. The camp is staffed by current & former college athletes, brings participants together from various high schools onto a common playing field, and also awards one participant with the McDonald’s $1000 "Ultimate Athlete" Scholarship. [More Details]

Level #4: "One Heart; One Mind" Mountain Retreat (offered 2-3 times per year) WATCH VIDEO - an impactful 3-4 day retreat offered at various locations. Participants are challenged to examine and express their hearts as "Men & Women of Influence" in preparation to define and accept their personal "Call to Greatness" within TLA’s 5-part "Heart to Mind" retreat application series. The overnight experience allows for activities such as evening campfires, paintball battles, snow tubing, and whitewater rafting. In addition, the small group atmosphere promotes camaraderie among the participants, and offers ample time for one-on-one mentoring and leadership coaching.

Level #5: "Discovering the Warrior Within" El Salvador Mission (offered 1-2 times per year) - a life-changing 10-14 day trip to El Salvador that serves as the capstone experience to the program by challenging participants to put the principles and concepts learned in Levels 1-4 into action by serving disadvantaged people in a developing nation. Service activities include: facilitating leadership training retreats, harvesting crops in impoverished communities, running sports outreach tournaments, working in an orphanage for children born to prostitutes, serving in one of the largest prisons in El Salvador, and assisting within a community church. Participants are also given a valuable cultural immersion experience through apartment living in a low-income community in the capital city, dinner and fellowship within Salvadoran homes, and learning to communicate despite a language barrier. In addition, our teams also enjoy activities such as a 2-day self-reflection retreat inside a volcano, mountain climbing with zip lines, focused mentoring on becoming "Men & Women of Influence," scaling a volcano, and swimming in a volcanic lake. [More Details]

TRUE WARRIOR

A warrior is not fearless, but someone who is willing to face his fears.
He is not naturally talented, but is willing to develop the necessary skills to succeed.
He has not always been confident, but has found ways to believe in himself.
A warrior does not want you to follow what he says, but to do as he does.
He is not the most served, but instead he is the greatest servant.
He does not expect any more from anyone else, than he does of himself.
When the example has been set for him and leadership passed on he looks to no one else but himself to set the example.
When there is a failure it is his fault.
When there is success it is his team’s victory.
A warrior is someone that his word is his bond.
You need nothing more from him than a handshake, and when you look him in the eyes you know he will be beside you shoulder to shoulder Forever.
A warrior is someone that even if all of his brothers left him he would push forward because a warrior never looks back to see who’s following but only looks forward toward his goal and sets the example for those who want to follow.
For him success is not a matter of “if” but “when” because he knows that he will do whatever it takes to achieve his dream.
His greatness comes not through his successes, but rather every ounce of his armor is formed through his failures.
He thrives off of each setback, each person that quits, and everyone who promised him something and left without keeping their word.
Quit on him and he’ll push forward without you, but tell him his goals are insurmountable and he’ll outwork every obstacle in his way because he knows that by accessing his innate potential that the rest of his followers are liberated to do the same.
A warrior achieves greatness not through his victories, but through every fear he overcame, every sacrifice he made when no one was looking, and through his rising up over everyone who told him his dream was unreachable.
Just realize that a TRUE warrior is not someone that occurs by chance, but is someone that is formed over time because he was willing to change with each failure, and it is through those failures that he succeeds.