The Baltimore Ravens will host the Ninth Annual L.I.F.T. (Leading and Inspiring Females to Thrive) Conference on Thursday, April 4 at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills.
The event will begin at 8:30 a.m.
The L.I.F.T. Conference is a leadership seminar for female student-athletes from local high schools. Current freshmen, sophomores and juniors from Maryland high schools were invited to apply for the conference, with many receiving referrals from their coaches and/or athletic directors. The criteria to be selected included those student-athletes who serve as both an “untitled leader” and “unsung hero” for their respective sports programs.
The event is designed to empower the next generation of female student-athletes and develop their leadership skills, helping them succeed both on and off the playing field. L.I.F.T. engages the young women in conversations about how their sports skills translate to their off-field endeavors (relationships, college preparation, workplace, professional sports arena, etc.). The students will have an opportunity to hear from Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (9:15 a.m.), and 2006 University of Maryland Women’s Basketball National Champion and WNBA All-Star, Marissa Coleman (1:15 p.m.).
Following an incredible high school career, Coleman was selected as a McDonald’s and WBCA All-American. She played collegiate basketball at the University of Maryland (UMD), where she helped lead the Terrapins to a National Championship in 2006. Among many accolades, during her time at UMD, Coleman was named ACC Rookie of the Year (2006), Second Team All-ACC (2006, 2007, 2008) and AP Honorable Mention All-American (2007, 2008). Coleman is also ninth all-time in program history with 1,500 career points, fifth all-time in rebounding and the only player in UMD history to record a triple double. Following her time at Maryland, Coleman was drafted No. 2 overall by the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. Throughout her 10-year WNBA career, Coleman played for three WNBA teams where she was named to the All-Rookie team (2009) and All-Star game (2015). As an international player, Coleman won a gold medal on team USA Women’s U18 and U19 teams as well as the 2007 Pan American Games.
In addition to the guest speakers, Strive, How You Lead Matters will lead an interactive discussion with the group designed to help the students discover how their on-field skills can be applied to their personal and professional lives. Strive provides highly-specialized leadership training to a nationally-diverse group of student-athletes, coaches and adult leaders through residential summer programs and in-school workshops. Since 1996, Strive has taught leadership qualities to students and educators from more than 40 states and seven countries worldwide.
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