Summer Bridge 2019 Recap
8/6/2019 12:00:00 AM | General
During June and July, 89 incoming student-athletes participated in Liberty's Summer Bridge program, coordinated by Academic Affairs for Athletics.
The Summer Bridge program is open to students who graduate from high school in the late spring and early summer prior to the start of their freshman year at Liberty, along with transfer students. The residential program supports academic success, retention and personal growth as well as academic transition to college life for its participants.
"Summer Bridge has allowed me to build relationships as well as adjust to college academically and athletically," stated incoming men's basketball player Kyle Rode. "I would highly recommend it to all student-athletes who want to get better in all aspects of life."
The Liberty football, men's basketball and women's basketball programs were the first to begin 2019 Summer Bridge on June 9. All other sports (baseball, men's soccer, women's soccer, softball, field hockey, women's lacrosse and women's tennis) started on July 7.
Student-athletes attended classes from Monday-Friday for the program, earning anywhere from 3-8 credit hours. The two three-hour classes are applicable to any degree the participant chooses. Incoming freshmen also attended Academic Enhancement (AE) sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Liberty Athletics Center (LAC).
The student-athletes also took part in FLAMES Training sessions, which included a variety of different topics: Academic Integrity, Finances, Title IX, Liberty 101, Gratitude, Life at Liberty, Student-Athlete Development, L-You, Drug and Alcohol Awareness and Social media. Academic Affairs for Athletics also included library tours and a fair for the first time. Student-athletes had the chance to talk with different departments across campus about majors they were interested in studying.
New Liberty Flames student-athletes also became acclimated to the Lynchburg community through community outreach at Park View Community Mission on three consecutive Saturdays (July 13, 20 and 27). On each Saturday, student-athletes spent the morning unloading donated food from delivery trucks, sorting and organizing the food for distribution in the pantry.
In the afternoon, the team assisted in running the distribution to families by checking them in, loading up grocery carts with food items and carrying groceries to their vehicles. Liberty Athletics volunteers regularly at Park View throughout the year.
On all four Sundays of Summer Bridge (July 7, 14, 21 and 28), student-athletes attended worship services on campus. They heard from four different pastors – David Wheeler, Nick Acree, P.J. Preston and Doug Damon. Student-athletes also heard from guest speakers Dr. Derek Greenfield and Shelene Bryan during Summer Bridge.
"My favorite part of Summer Bridge was the relationships that were built between each sport," said incoming volleyball player Abby Phillips. "I value relationships so deeply and am so thankful for the cool opportunities Summer Bridge created for me to branch out and make new friends."
@media all and (max-width: 415px){.slideshow-responsive-wrapper{padding-bottom:100% !important;}}
