Volleyball Squad Embarks on Europe Trip

The passports are in, the flights, hotels, buses and trains are booked and the volleyball team is ready to embark on its first-ever international trip to Europe.

The Roadrunners will visit Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy on a 10-day tour that will begin on Sunday, May 15. where they will play a handful of exhibition matches and visit various sites in four different countries. These are tours NCAA teams are allowed to take once every four years. Our men’s basketball team did a similar one to Australia in 2011.

The team will play at least six exhibition matches, meet some of the players' families, experience different cultures and learn about the history of those parts of Europe while visiting different museums and historical sites.

Fans can follow the entire trip on the following social media channels:

• Twitter — @UTSAVolleyball
• Instagram — utsaathletics
• Snapchat — utsaathletics
• Facebook — a blog will be posted online at http://facebook.com/UTSAVBall and at goUTSA.com. If WiFi is available, we’ll have Facebook Live running during the exhibition matches.

This once-in-a-lifetime trip would not be possible without the support of those who donated money and the hard work of the UTSA Athletics Development staff and volleyball coaching staff for organizing and running the campaign.

May is a month of farewells and new beginnings for our University. Each May, the Student Leadership Center hosts a six-day LeaderShape Institute. The Institute is an incubator of sorts for very special new beginnings. It challenges participants to consider the world around them and ask, “How can I make the world a better place?” For the past six years, this tradition has consistently stood out among participants as one of the most impactful experiences of their undergraduate leadership journeys.

The institute helps more than 50 students take issues that they are passionate about and turn them into visions for action. One participant enthusiastically stated, “LeaderShape was life changing. It really helped me improve my self-esteem as well as grow as a leader.” Participants spent time articulating and reflecting on their vision statements, and used a goal-mapping tool called a “Breakthrough Blueprint” to identify specific steps for achieving their visions. Being a part of a focused learning community at The Institute enabled students to build strong new friendships and learn from others within a diverse group. Another participant stated, “Being a part of the learning community helped me develop my vision and encouraged me to share amongst my peers.”

Guiding the students throughout the six days were their “family cluster” facilitators, which included Jarvis Clark, Associate Director for Student Activities, Lydia Bueno, Associate Dean of Students, Mario Rios, Assistant Director with Campus Recreation, Clayton Sponhaltz, Assistant Director with the Center for Collegiate Recovery, and Camille Cartwright, Assistant Director for Student Conduct and Community Standards. These staff members served as part of the learning process throughout the week at John Newcombe Ranch in New Braunfels, TX. They led their cluster families in curriculum instruction as well as inspired them to create engaging performances to help keep the energy up every day.

On the evening of Tuesday, May 17^th, the students participated in a guest leader panel discussion, where they were able to share their visions and questions with active San Antonio community leaders. The guest panel was moderated by UTSA Alum Jaswanth Kintada (2016) and consisted of Tyler Wynne, U.S. Navy Veteran, and former President of the Student Veterans Association, Chris Stewart, UTSA Alum and Chief of Staff for San Antonio City Councilman Ron Nirenberg, Kellie Elliot, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Anne Jimenez, Associate Dean of Students, and D.J. Bernal, UTSA Alum, former Mr. UTSA and current CEO of Modern Teen Ministries.

Please visit the Student Leadership Center Facebook page to view photos from this year’s institute.

For more information about the programs and events, visit the UTSA Student Leadership Center website, call 210-458-7967, or visit our office in the University Center (Room 2.01.04) on the UTSA Main Campus.