BWSF & WCU to Host Children from Philadelphia’s Global Leadership Academy For Dream Big Event
April 21, 2025
40+ Children from Philadelphia’s Global Leadership Academy Will Learn How to DREAM BIG:
Through Sports, Fitness Fun & Team Building
More than 40 children in grades 3 - 8 from the Global Leadership Academy in Philadelphia will visit West Chester University (WCU) to learn how to dream big and embrace their inner power through Zumba, rock climbing, team games, mindfulness & meditation, and more on April 26, from 8:30 am – 11:20 a.m. in Sturzebecker Gymnasium, 855 South New Street, West Chester, PA, as well as from 12:30 – 3:00 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center, 275 North Campus Drive, West Chester, PA. This will be the first time that many of the children have visited a college campus. WCU Professor of Sport & Exercise Psychology Margaret Ottley, a mental performance specialist who has trained elite Olympic athletes to defeat mental hurdles, and the graduate student teachers in her Applied Sport & Exercise Psychology class will collaborate with the Philadelphia-based Black Women in Sport Foundation (BWSF) and the Global Leadership Academy/Global Academies to empower the children with leadership skills. Exploring a variety of careers in the sport/exercise field will be an important part of the very active day.
“Children need to envision all they can become, acquiring mental skills like visualization and mental imagery, which play a crucial role in human development,” says Dr. Ottley. “This one-day youth camp is designed to show children that they can do whatever they set their minds to do and they can be whomever they would like to be. As a leadership development tool, we explore the numerous benefits of play by coming together, working together, and bringing one another along.”
The schedule for the one-day youth camp will be as follows:
8:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Team Building/Leadership Activities
Sturzebecker Gymnasium, 855 South New Street, West Chester, PA
11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
Lunch, The Sciences and Engineering Center & The Commons (SECC),
155 University Avenue, West Chester, PA
12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Fun Games & Activities, Student Recreation Center, 275 North Campus Drive, West Chester, PA
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Closing with WCU Student Athletes as Guest Speakers, Student Recreation Center
Now in its third year, the one-day youth camp is supported by West Chester University’s Office of the Dean in the College of Health Sciences, as well as the Athletic Department and its staff, coaches, and student athletes. Also supporting the camp are WCU’s Student Recreation Center, the Frederick Douglass Institute at West Chester University, Exercise Science graduate student athletes, and the Black Women in Sport Foundation (BWSF). In addition, the graduate students in Dr. Ottley’s class are working toward their Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) Certification.
About Dr. Margaret Ottley
Dr. Margaret Ottley is a highly respected sport and exercise psychology practitioner who is known nationally and internationally. She coordinates the Master of Science in Sport & Exercise concentration at West Chester University’s Department of Kinesiology within the College of Health Sciences. Dr. Ottley is the first Black recipient of the prestigious Coleman Griffith Award from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).
She has prepared elite athletes for major international competitions, including Olympic Games with USA Track & Field (USATF) and Trinidad and Tobago. She serves as a mental performance specialist for the National Scholastic Athletic Foundation (NSAF), which owns the NIKE National Indoor and Outdoor meets. Additionally, she consults for NIKE’s Elite Youth program and has led youth clinics in triple jump and javelin at NSAF’s Caribbean track and field meets across the U.S.
https://www.wcupa.edu/communications/newsroom/2025/04.21DreamBig.aspx