Michael Johnson Young Leaders - Developing Sport Leaders for Life
August 16, 2019
On July 9, 2019 exceptional young leaders from around the world embarked on an incredible journey, one that changed their lives and will benefit the communities they serve through sport, forever.
Michael Johnson - Olympic legend, businessman and Beyond Sport Ambassador - brought together young leaders from different walks of life, flown in by United, for a week-long intensive sports leadership program, hosted at a range of locations across McKinney, Texas, including the cutting-edge Michael Johnson Performance Center. The Players' Tribune was on site to capture the stories and experiences of several of them:
The Michael Johnson Young Leaders (MJYL) program was born out of the Michael Johnson Foundation and provides exceptional young people with the practical tools and techniques they need to lead sport for social change initiatives. These young sport leaders are already exceptional, either as athletes or as coaches, and have overcome many barriers to get to where they are. They were deemed some of the world's most inspirational young people, tackling some of society's toughest challenges head-on.
Rinky Kumari, age 18 from India, stated: “I believe in teaching others and spreading knowledge. What I have learnt I want to teach to others, to help people in my community understand gender equality, environmental and health issues."
"My week with MJYL will be memorable for the rest of my life. Members of the program are new family for me, even though all of us were from completely separate countries." 
Now in its fourth year, the program gives Michael Johnson Young Leaders the confidence, skills and resources they need to help them use sport to make a positive difference for their own futures and also for those of the communities they work in. Young Leaders came from a diverse range of backgrounds and countries, and all program content was tailored to address the personal and professional needs and challenges they face in their own communities.
The program focuses on world class sports training, leadership and coaching development, community engagement and new this year, a workshop on how the Young Leaders can collectively make an impact together towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Class of 2019
This year's group - from the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Armenia, Ghana, Jamaica and India - was selected by Michael Johnson (a thinkBeyond client - Beyond Sport's consultancy arm), and a carefully curated panel of experts in youth leadership, sport and social change. The selection process was carried out in partnership with Coaches Across Continents, the award-winning global charity that trains up local community leaders in using sport as a tool for social change.
“My experience for the week was really great, I learned so much in a very short amount of time! I plan to use my newly acquired knowledge in the most efficient way possible, by using the coaching skills that I gained to improve and track the progress of the kids I teach. In addition, I want to impart the games that I came up with and teach the children about environmental awareness,” said Damany Gayle from Jamaica.
Following the course in Dallas, the Young Leaders will go through a personalized twelve-month plan to support a key project they have developed that will use sport to engage and improve their community, as well as develop themselves. The support includes expert virtual sports coaching designed by Michael Johnson Performance coaches, ongoing mentoring and support to help them achieve their own goals and projects, including connections into an extensive global network of leading organizations in sports, government, education and business.
Young people, like the Michael Johnson Young Leaders, are accelerating the sport for social change movement around the world. Join us in September at Beyond Sport House to hear and learn from inspiring youth who are making a positive impact, globally and locally, in support of the UN SDGs.