Marshall Redhawks: Building Leaders On and Off the Court

The Marshall Michigan movement started by Tiffany Burns, the president of Marshall Junior Redhawks youth basketball has been fun to see develop.

She wanted her youth organization to be more than simply rolling the basketballs out and letting the kids play. She wanted to use this time to develop them as teammates and leaders as well.

So in 2021, she jumped all in with a winter season Lead ‘Em Up kickoff that included a three-hour training for all the coaches and a 90-minute leadership workshop with all the players.

It was a huge success

During the course of the season, the coaches continued facilitating the program while the kids were having a blast building their Green teams.

As Marshall Junior Redhawks basketball continued with the program, it was a year later when Mike Johnson (President of Marshall Youth Football) decided he wanted Marshall Youth Football to jump in as well.

Knowing that many of the players in the community play both football and basketball, the kids were experiencing leadership development in multiple seasons rather than simply in one.

Every year the coaches continued to engage in Lead ‘Em Up workshops, becoming more connected to the curriculum, helping them teach it and lead it better than before.

It was the most recent winter season when things jumped to another level as Burns coordinated a community event, inviting the school superintendent, high school athletic director, and various community leaders so they could be introduced to the program and discuss ways of implementing it throughout the larger community.

It was a great event and it appears Marshall, MI is continuing to level up.