Desire to Lead

Author: Gabriella Levi and Emmerson Edwards    

Of all of the clubs here at ThunderRidge, Desire to Lead (DTL) is one that has a large impact on student athletes. The program overall is organized by Jeremy Boone who lives in North Carolina. He created the club and demonstrates how it provides an opportunity for athletes to expand their knowledge on forming into a better leader for sports and life overall. Coach Carnes is the leader of the ThunderRidge DTL program and alongside him is Coach Nygard. The passionate coaches in charge of this club greatly impact how much athletes can receive from the program. Carnes is very passionate about it because it creates an, “opportunity to connect with other athletes across all of North America and share experiences as they work to grow, to better lead themselves, and their teams.” The program is also important to Nygard due to the fact that it teaches “athletes to learn being a leader isn’t just yelling, it is all about leading by example”. 

The student athletes are the most important part of DTL, they strive to lead their teams and improve day by day. We interviewed two of them including Kaden Shouse, on the varsity football team(12) and Becca Winton, on varsity soccer and basketball (11). Kaden joined DTL because “After the 2020 football season I realized our team was missing leadership we needed in order to be successful. I also love Coach Carnes who recommended it to me.” His favorite part is, “having ThunderRidge only meetings so you can hear more about what is happening in other sports. DTL helped me in sports more than anything because I really improved my leadership skills for the football team.” Becca Winton joined DTL without really knowing what it was. “Carnes asked me to join and once I talked to some other people and found out that it was greatly impacting other people, so I was convinced”. Without really knowing what it was prior to joining she still had positive impacts. “I have become more competitive and more of a leader. I am no longer afraid to confront somebody during practice or games when something is not being done right so the environment can stay competitive and positive. Not only this, I have also learned to bring this competitive spirit and leadership whenever and wherever I play. In high school it has helped me a lot as well because doing this has allowed me to come out of my shell and be more confident in myself and has helped me form many connections with other people.” 

These are some of the ways DTL has impacted the athletes involved in the club. Desire to Lead is one of the best clubs offered at ThunderRidge because it helps the student athletes grow in many ways beneficial to their sports and in the real world. If you would like to be involved in DTL go talk to Coach Carnes!  

Kaden Shouse Rebecca Winton Coach Brandon Nygard Coach  Mark Carnes 

Grade 12 Grade 11