Student Athlete Wellness Summit

Learn how to use pre-game pressure and emotions to your advantage, stay locked in when it counts, and walk away with tools to turn nerves into your secret weapon with Dr. Slye.  She is a former Division I swimmer at Michigan State University, is a clinical psychologist who, in addition to her general private practice, has also worked with high school, college, and semi-pro athletes. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from The George Washington University and completed advanced training at The New York Psychoanalytic Institute and The Metropolitan Center for Mental Health.

Help unlock how your visual system aids in athletics. As an athlete, your visual system leads EVERY movement you make.  Learn how to allow it to help perform at your highest level.  Jeff Heddle was born and raised in Canada and is an alumnus of the Indiana University School of Optometry.   His experience in vision therapy and developmental optometry spans multiple organizations, including tenures with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a sports vision consultant, the New York Knicks as a member of their medical team, and the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs as draft prospect consultant.

Get ready to unlock powerful mental tools to help build confidence, focus, and peak performance. Build your personalized mental playbook that will build resilience, elevate your game, and gain performance enhancing tools like visualization, positive self-talk, and emotional regulation to use before, during, and after competition. Megan Hines knows that despite being smart, kind, and deeply hardworking, life can be overwhelming without the proper mindset.

Learn how to recognize the early signs of burnout and be equipped with mental performance strategies to stay strong throughout the season and beyond. By shifting the focus from pushing harder to training smarter, you can learn how rest, recovery, mindset, and emotional awareness are powerful tools for long-term success.  Esther Caro currently serves as a local sexual assault and domestic violence therapist. She enjoys empowering clients in navigating anxiety, trauma, and life transitions and has a passion to help young people understand their emotions and thrive in every area of life. Anne Stark currently serves as an addiction therapist, working with individuals navigating substance use, emotional distress, and family-related challengest empowering teens to reclaim their identity, strengthen resilience, and build a future grounded in purpose and stability. Jonathan serves as a therapist who focuses on supporting individuals facing a variety of problems, like high stress, identity pressures, and anxiety. He is committed to equipping young people with tools that strengthen their mindset and promote sustainable success on and off the field.

Learn the five key habits that keep the best competitors healthy, consistent, and ready to perform. Instead of relying on luck, “injury-proof” athletes use smart training, proper technique, recovery strategies, and early warning signs to stay on the field and out of the training room. Student athletes will learn practical, easy-to-apply habits they can start using immediately to reduce injuries, improve performance, and play their sport longer and stronger. Dr Kensey Bermingham (RX Physical Therapy) graduated with his doctorate in Physical Therapy from Andrews University in 2012. With over a decade in sports performance and orthopedic physical therapy, he founded RX PT with the intention of assisting active people through injury to perform at higher levels. 

Learn how to stay fit, motivated, and mentally strong long after the final whistle, and how to build habits now that will keep you performing at your best for life. High school sports don’t last forever, even if we wish they could, but strength, health, and confidence don’t have to end when the season does. Dr James Morris (Gym Rat Physical Therapy) is a former four-sport athlete who is extremely competitive and loves any activity that can be 'won'.

Learn how to train smarter, not just harder, and the secret behind elite performance: supercompensation. If you want bigger gains, better recovery, and peak game-day performance, this session shows how supercompensation can give you the upper hand. Todd Johnson (Renaissance Athletic Center) provides clients with programs that deliver results that exceed their expectations. Based on decades of coaching experience, Todd has been helping people accomplish their sports and fitness goals for years.

Explore how whole, minimally processed foods can boost your energy, focus, and endurance—helping you perform at your best both on and off the field.  Learning that what you eat directly impacts how you train, recover, and compete. Dr. Sarah Gendernalik is a Navy veteran and former Flight Surgeon. Dr. Gendernalik brings a unique perspective to her work, applying clinical insights to tackle complex public health challenges. She has led initiatives such as establishing Food as Medicine interventions. Dr. Gendernalik holds a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Midwestern University and a Master of Public Health from The George Washington University.

Explore the implications of energy drinks and their impact on athletic performance, health, and overall well-being. While these drinks promise quick boosts of energy, they often come with side effects, especially for athletes. Learn how caffeine, sugar, and other ingredients in energy drinks can affect hydration, endurance, and long-term health and discover safer, more effective ways to fuel your body for peak performance without compromising your health. Dr. Trigger is an energetic, driven medical professional highly skilled in the treatment of emergency medical and sports medical conditions. He truly believes that exercise is medicine and is a very active triathlete competing in multiple Ironman races.

Develop a formula that taps into your superpowers, unlocking the presence and influence that make people naturally want to follow your lead. We'll practice strategies from brain science and psychology to build up others and yourself. Chris Adkins is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Management & Organization Department and Academic Director of Leadership Development at Notre Dame. His research and teaching explore how the fields of neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and behavioral economics provide new insights and best practices for values-based leadership. Empathy is the core theme of his work, offering a foundational and teachable skill to enhance innovation, communication, diversity and inclusion, ethical decision making, and change leadership.

Learn how teammates can help each other improve through this research-based, interactive workshop.  Learn why and how even top professional athletes commit to filling emotional tanks of their teammates.  Ken Harkenrider (Positive Coaching Alliance) served as Athletic Director at Canterbury High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana for 35 years before returning to his Alma Mater, Bishop Luers High School in 2024. His ultimate goal is to make sure EVERY student can “find their place in the universe,” as they transition from high school to that next step in their lives.