Overview

Imagine spending a week in the mountain resort town of Vail, Colorado learning the skills that delivered the U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey team to its first-ever #1 world ranking! 

The Mindful Warrior High-Altitude Leadership Academy is a values-driven, high-performance experiential curriculum taught by a world-class faculty in a spectacular resort setting.  The academy is open to girls playing any team sport, but is limited to college athletes and to rising high-school juniors and seniors.  This is the only leadership academy of its kind in the world. 

Jenny Potter and Cornelia Holden have a passion for training the next generation of female athletes.  For the first-time ever, they are offering a leadership academy for high-school girls.  All participants will experience Mindful Warrior’s innovative approach to team building and leadership development with Cornelia Holden, sports psychology, team building, and leadership consultant to the U.S. Women’s National and Olympic Ice Hockey teams. 

Mindful Warrior’s world-class staff also includes Billy Mattison, winner of the Eco-Challenge and nationally recognized outdoor educator; Kevin Hicks, dean, coach, and academic strategy consultant who served five years as a dean at Yale University and now serves as Associate Head of School and Dean of Faculty at the Hotchkiss School, a top-tier boarding school in Lakeville, CT; and Rob Potter, a nationally-known strength and conditioning coach who has trained NHL and Olympic-caliber athletes, including his wife, Jenny Potter.  To learn more about our staff, click here.

A Sample Day

Each day begins with 30 minutes in the yoga studio for  stretching and mindfulness practice.  After a healthy breakfast, athletes head either into the classroom for their Mindful Warrior training with Cornelia Holden or into the wilderness with Billy Mattison to test their emerging team building, communication, and leadership skills.  Rob Potter will coach a 1-hour dynamic strength and conditioning program each day to introduce athletes to the core training techniques of elite-level athletes.  All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are included in the tuition.  Athletes are chaperoned and are expected to be in their rooms by 10:30PM with lights out at 11PM. 

Our goal is for our athletes to feel deeply challenged; to forge meaningful friendships; to evolve into resilient, healthy, and integrated student-athletes; and to be trusted team players who can return to their teams as authentic and able leaders.  For further information, please view our schedule. 

A Note to Parents

If your daughter joins us in Vail, we want to assure you that we are committed to providing a safe, healthy, and inspirational educational environment.  We recognize the sacrifices families make on behalf of their children and we also know that many parents are eager to learn how to support their daughters in healthy, effective ways.  As a result, we are encouraging athletes to travel with one or more members of their families.  While parents will not participate in the curriculum, you are invited to attend our opening ceremonies and our closing dinner. 

Please note: all athletes are required to stay in rooms provided by the academy and will be supervised by the academy’s junior staff members--they may not elect to stay with their parents or accompanying adult guardian.

If you and your daughter choose to extend your stay in Vail through the following Saturday for a post-academy family vacation, we would be happy to guide you to some of the Vail Valley’s best and brightest in outdoor-education, fitness, nutrition, yoga, injury rehabilitation, and adventure sports.  The Lion Square Lodge has agreed to honor our group rates through Saturday, July 30th to help make your vacation more affordable.

We designed our academy to be an educational experience for the entire family in a world-class resort setting--we hope you can join us!