"One Heart; One Mind" College Athlete Internship Team - is an elite group of college athletes carefully selected to serve in TLA's programs throughout the summer within a purpose-driven curriculum focused on developing them in (4) core areas to prepare them to have an impact on their college campuses and beyond upon returning to school. The (4) areas are as follows:

 

Personal Development: All great accomplishments begin with a dream, and are backed up with goals and action steps to get there. Athletes are challenged to take a telescope (big picture) / microscope (daily action) approach to life that causes them to define a Definite Major Purpose (DMP) for their future, and develop a focused action plan to achieve it. Each athlete will go through this to begin the summer, and will follow their personal development action plans as part of their daily responsibilities. This process is highly regarded and utilized by several high school and collegiate athletic teams, businesses, churches, and numerous individuals from all walks of life to focus their daily efforts into a purpose-driven lifestyle in pursuit of a dream. Spiritual Development: The foundation of the program is found in living a "Great Commandment; Great Commission" lifestyle whereas your relationship with Christ is the source of everything you do, and within that allowing God to work through you to impact the lives of others. Our team will get extensive time with several leaders in sports ministry through our partnership with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and the International Sports Coalition (ISC), along with daily mentoring in their time with our staff and the growth they will experience in going on this journey as a band of brothers. Physical Development: Through our partnership with the Institute of Athletic Development (IAD) each athlete will go through a pre-summer consultation and assessment to obtain baseline data on their current level of physical performance. Each athlete will then be provided a personalized weight training, conditioning, nutrition, and athletic development program that they will follow throughout the summer to prepare them for their upcoming seasons. This program will be matched with their physical performance goals, and benchmarks will be set for them to reach at different points throughout the summer. Leadership Development: Throughout the summer our mentoring team will have the opportunity to work with over 1,000 teenagers in many different formats, including: camps, retreats, mission trips, small group and one-on-one mentoring sessions, individual sport-specific skill workouts, and during times of fellowship. They will be responsible for facilitating many of these programs, and using the mentoring they are receiving in the aforementioned areas to impact the lives of the teenagers they are working with. Our purpose is to "train leaders" who "train leaders" by investing into their lives, so that in turn they are equipped to do the same in the lives of others.

TESTIMONIAL

"IAD/TLA has dramatically changed my life for the better. Not only has it drastically improved my abilities on the court, but both programs have taught me life lessons that I will carry with me the rest of my life. I can truly say that besides my family, this program has had the largest impact on my life, and I believe without it I wouldn’t have accepted Christ into my life. These programs have made me a better leader and a better man. I thank God that he has brought both programs into my life. It has only been a year and a half and the memories I have will be with me for the rest of my life. I feel so blessed from what God has done in my life through this program. I know that I will be connected with both programs for the rest of my life. In fact, I’m even pursuing a degree in Youth Ministry at Eastern University to come back, and serve within TLA’s programs in an effort to offer area youth the same experiences that had such a huge impact on my life." Ben Connor