The University of Texas at Austin has announced a new sports leadership initiative. This at a time of national headline-grabbing stories of violence involving professional athletes and as a Travis County grand jury this week indicted two former Longhorn football players on felony sexual assault charges.
The Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation will work with high school coaches on a training program to help detect and intervene at signs of troubling or violent behavior. The new center is led by former NFL assistant coach and lecturer in UT’s College of Liberal Arts, Daron K. Roberts.
“We aim to use interdisciplinary research, entrepreneurial thinking and strong relationships with outside groups to ensure that young athletes can all become responsible role models,” says Roberts.
The Center will be largely funded largely with revenue from the Longhorn Network for three years. UT will also seek private, nonprofit partnerships to turn the Center into a financially self-sufficient project.
UT President Bill Powers says the Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation "is a program with a stated goal of helping athletes to succeed on and off the field as responsible citizens."
Filipa Rodrigues contributed to this report.
