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BOSTON — The value of a captain to a team, just like the value of sports in one’s life, can be understated and overlooked.
Heisman and the Aspen Institute are combining forces in an effort to exemplify the virtues of both across high school athletics.
A new national initiative, to be announced Tuesday May 5, aims to develop high school team captains into civic leaders “capable of driving change” in their teams, schools and communities, according to a release shared with USA TODAY Sports before the official announcement.
The Aspen Institute Captains Leadership Academy will provide athlete-leaders with training, mentorship and tools to “address real-world challenges — from access to youth sports to mental health and community well-being.”
“The academy speaks directly to the potential impact of youth sports participation on American society,” says Vincent Minjares, program manager of the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program. “Improving the leadership ability of sports captains strengthens the quality of the sports experience of themselves and their teammates, while also facilitating the transfer of sports-based leadership development (of) future careers and community impact.”
Aspen’s Project Play, which is known for studying sports participation in communities and initiating solutions to the barriers to access to it, will provide the programming with support from Heisman.
Heisman, through the Heisman Foundation, will serve as founding partner through the largest single grant in its history supporting youth development through sports and education, according to the release.
A number of Heisman Trophy winners, including Tim Brown and Charlie Ward, have expressed interest in participating in the program, according to Jeff Price, Heisman’s CEO.
“We’re here to support, to help build it and to make sure that we have access to the winners,” Price tells USA TODAY Sports. “We want this to be something that isn’t (going) through the motions and you walk away with a certificate. This should be a real leadership development cohort that gets built.”
Here’s an explainer about the initiative, and what it might mean for you and your family:
What is the Aspen Institute?
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization designed to ignite human potential and build understanding. Project Play, the signature initiative of its Sports & Society Program, tries to build healthy communities through sports.
Project Play’s goal is to get 63% youth sports participation by 2030. Right now, we are around 55%.
What is Heisman?
The Heisman Trophy has been awarded to college football’s top player every year since 1935. The Heisman Foundation, the nonprofit charitable arm of Heisman, has made $30 million in grants to youth sports programs over the last decade, according to Price.
“With grants, you want to make sure that you’re able to track the impact that you’re having, the lives that are changed and ultimately be able to tell the stories of those that are making a difference,” Heisman’s CEO says. “And that is, I think, for us, the combination of what we can do with our winners who inspire so many. And then what we can get back to communities, create future leaders, which are so needed in sport.
“Sports is a vehicle through which we can make a difference and train them to become leaders.”
How does the Captains Leadership Academy work?
According to the release, “participants will engage in seminar-style learning, access digital leadership tools, and contribute to community-based projects that build skills in collaboration, and problem-solving.”
The Center for Rising Generations will help guide the development of the program, while IMG Academy will annually convene captains who participate in the Captains Leadership Academy on its Bradenton, Florida, campus and provide training and development tools.
The Captains Leadership Academy will launch in 2026 with pilot programs in select states and plans to make resources accessible to schools, captains and coaches nationally.
Minjares, of Aspen Sports & Society, says the program will lean on Service Learning through Sports, a youth-focused support program that empowers high school students to develop sports-focused projects in their schools and communities.
How many captains will be selected? How many kids will be impacted?
According to Minjares, efforts in 2026 will focus on captain seminars in a “small number of target high schools before scaling and expanding in 2027 to more schools, additional online pathways and support for civic engagement projects.”
He says efforts will be made to reach as many schools and students as possible.
How will Aspen and Heisman reach the athlete-leaders?
Minjares says the the initial focus on in-school captain seminars will utilize a network of Aspen-trained facilitators. Over time, the intention is to grow the network of facilitators to include school leadership and the student captains themselves.
According to the release, the Heisman Foundation will also help guide its development and elevate participants through mentorship opportunities and connections to Heisman Trophy winners.
Who is eligible? How do kids get nominated or apply?
The Captains Leadership Academy program will primarily target boys and girls, ages 14 and up, that are current or aspiring team sports captains in high school sports. Minjares says Aspen will work with partners, including school and community organizations, to establish specific eligibility criteria.
Will the Captains Leadership Academy provide college opportunities?
According to the release, the Heisman Foundation will lead the development and execution of a new Heisman High School platform inspired, at least in part, by the High School Heisman program, which ran from 1994–2024.
That program awarded 100 scholarships per year (50 boys and 50 girls) with two national winners getting $5,000.00 scholarships.
“We will recreate what I would say is the modern version of the High School Heisman program for ’27 and beyond,” Heisman’s Scott says. “But that’s still in the works of development, but it is certainly a commitment that we’ve made to Aspen that we want to recreate it and build it, but in partnership with them.”
Says Minjares: “We remain open to exploring the many diverse ways that this program can improve lives and open opportunities.”
Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.
Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@usatoday.com
