By Tyler Byrum – January 28, 2019
Over the past 18 months JTCC has partnered with researchers from the University of Virginia to undertake a comprehensive analysis of JTCC alumni to provide insights on whether ‘The JTCC Experience’ has been achieving its mission of developing student-athletes who go on to be successful in college and in their professional and personal lives. This project was made possible thanks to the support of JTCC Advisory Board Member Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker.
The study highlighted several strengths of the program and how it contributes to an individual’s development while at JTCC. It also unearthed a handful of recommendations on how JTCC can improve for the benefit of current and future students. Several strategies were used to gather data for this study, including one-on-one interviews, focus groups and surveys of JTCC alumni and their parents, JTCC coaches, and college coaches who have recruited JTCC players.
“I’ve been involved with JTCC throughout its 20-year history, both as an employee and as a board member, and the most exciting aspect of the program is how committed the JTCC coaches and leadership have been year in and year to improving on how they achieve founder Ken Brody’s original vision – developing the entire student-athlete to lead a successful life and be a leader in their community, after earning a college scholarship,”JTCC Advisory Board Member and Impact Study Chair Pat Delaney said. “Employers are spending a lot of resources to better understand what the 21st century skills are that educators need to focus on. JTCC is an out-of-school program that is having a major impact on developing these skills as evidenced by this study. There is still more that can be done and measured and, as always, JTCC continues to use feedback to improve its impact on the lives of its student-athletes.”
The study found that three skills are most enhanced: Leadership (49% rise in competency), Time Management (37%) and Grit (36%). Additionally, the quality of the elite-level coaching and the training environment at JTCC significantly contributed to individual development.
The results identified that Work Ethic and Teamwork are two of the greatest takeaways for JTCC alumni and are skills they continue to use today.
However, a small number of responses highlighted some areas that need addressing in order to accentuate the current strengths of JTCC, there are therefore several recommendations that JTCC intends to raise immediately:
1)Create a model that tracks players over their tenure at JTCC based on skill competencies and growth
2)Take advantage of the ever growing and engaged alumni network of JTCC to help mentor current students
3)Enhance and further develop the student-mentor program that focuses on the all-around well-being of every JTCC player
JTCC believes that these changes will provide an upgraded pathway for its graduates to be successful in college and their professional careers.
“Undertaking this study provided concrete data to formally cement the great work that JTCC does on a daily basis,” University of Virginia research expert Dr. Yoi Tibbetts said. “It also provides a superb platform to both continue improving the program and to further engage current and future supporters.”
The funding for this project was made possible thanks to the generosity of Sheila Ohlsson Walker and Willy Walker.
