A professional photographer takes photos of volleyball athletes for the first-ever athletic media day Oct 5. “It makes us have a larger presence on social media, which is obviously really big at the moment, especially for people our age, “Fitzgibbon said. “I think it will get more people excited for our sports events.” (Photo Credit: Parker Keston)

From posters advertising athletic senior nights to pep rallies in the courtyard, Archer’s Athletic Leadership Council is organizing it all.

The group works to get Archer students excited about sports on and off campus and addresses many internal challenges many student athletes face. According to the Duke Centennial, many students struggle with balancing school sports practices and games with homework and other extracurriculars. To relieve some of that stress, Archer’s Athletic Leadership Council provides a space for student athletes to discuss the joys and difficulties of participating in school athletics.

For the first time, Archer athletes participated in Media Day Saturday, Oct. 5, where athletes competing in fall sports had their photos and videos taken by professional photographers and videographers. The day was organized by Director of Athletics Kim Smith, who hired videographers and photographers to promote Archer’s sports teams. Led by senior Parker Keston, members of ALC signed up to help organize the day and ensure it ran smoothly.

Smith said the program grew out of the COVID-19 pandemic, when she invited female sports leaders such as Jill Ellis, the US women’s soccer coach and World Cup champion, to talk to the school community on Zoom, offering encouragement and inspiration for Archer student-athletes.

The council started in 2020 with 12 members and has grown to 37 members in its fourth year. Smith attributed this expansion to student athletes’ desire to support the group’s mission of strengthening the connection between athletics and the greater Archer community.

“I wanted to create a platform where athletes could come together and connect,” Smith said. “It’s also a place for them to discover themselves and really build upon their superpower through leadership opportunities that we provide.”

Sophomore Sloane Fitzgibbon said the meeting time is great to connect with fellow athletes and get inspired by each other’s ability to conquer challenges.

“We usually talk about how our sports are going because being a student athlete is very hard sometimes and draining mentally,” Fitzgibbon said. “It’s a place for the athletes to really let out their emotions. Also, Coach Smith tells us about how to be a better athlete in general, and how to be a better teammate.”

Smith emphasized the importance of having a communal space for athletes and said the only way to grow and improve is together.

“Athletes are working towards a common goal, and it’s great to have a community, where you’re headed in the same direction,” Smith said. “To be able to connect and to be able to build off each other’s successes and create momentum and motivation [is] really important for athletes to have that, especially as we head into this year, our focus is [to] rise. We’re a community, you don’t do anything alone.”

Junior Natalie London said that she believes it is important for athletes to have a place they can go to have peer support and feel uplifted.

“It is important to have a community for athletes at Archer because it is [a] really great opportunity to feel respected and known,” London said,”and to know that the other people in the room with you are also going through the same hardships, and the same ups and downs, and they also have triumphs and defeats as well.”

Smith said many student athletes have practices and games off campus, which can cause a sense of disconnection from the larger school community.

“We don’t have a gym yet, and so a lot of our gym sports are off campus,” Smith said. “So having ALC here on campus, … they get to connect as an athletic community.”