Some were treated like the king or queen held to their foreheads. Others, those with the lowest cards, were shunned. After several minutes of role playing, whatever fears of interaction there might have been had vanished.

The room came to life.

Seizing the opportunity, Lehoullier and McPherson asked them to talk about the stereotypes they face as student-athletes.

"We always get everything we want."

"We're dumb jocks."

They were asked about the stereotypes among them and the problems they face on campus.

"It's like there's football, basketball, volleyball, and then there's everything else."

"Only Division I matters."

"Parties are always just athletes."

"No one comes to our games."

"There's no communication within our athletics department."

Having allowed them to state their grievances, Lehoullier and McPherson then challenged the group to find solutions and promised that this conference would give them the tools to do so.

The next four days were filled with opportunities for discussion, problem-solving and the sharing of ideas about issues relevant to student-athletes and the ways in which they hope to bring about change on their campuses.

Dining out: teamwork

On Monday evening, after a day of intense discussion and learning, Walt Disney World's River Country beckoned. The gray team arrived there in search of dinner.

Which they found.

In pieces.

Laid out before them at one of several stations in the dining hall was a bin of chicken breasts; a barrel of raw vegetables, an empty grill, cartons of strawberries, milk, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, loaves of bread, a vat of pasta and a chef named "Gus," in authentic chef attire.

Over the speaker system a voice said, "Tonight, you will be making your own dinner. Two teams will work together per station. You may ask the chef questions, but he can not prepare your meal. Dinner should be ready by seven."

The panic and terror some might have expected never materialized. The gray team, joined with the brown team, was too busy planning the meal. In a matter of minutes, strawberries were being sliced, vegetables chopped, cream whipped and chicken breasts grilled.

But not without some confusion.

The following is a brief transcript of the gray team during the meal preparation:

"Hmm. These strawberries look good!"

"What should I cut with this knife?"

"My job is to lift the lid on the pasta pot. It's really challenging."

"I started off with chicken and got booted to salad."

"What do you get if you mix ketchup and Worcestershire sauce?"

"Don't burn my chicken!"

"Where's Gus?"

"I think that guy's from the green team. He's trying to steal our chicken."

At the sound of the dinner bell, the gray and brown teams had prepared the following: barbecue chicken and chicken shish kebobs; tossed salad, pasta and sauce, sliced bread, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Despite their hunger, having prepared the meal for the past hour, one order of business remained before a fork could be lifted.

The gray team blessed its food.

Creative expressions: compromise

After endless discussion and suggestions about what to do for the team's creative expression, San Diego State University softball student-athlete Vanessa Villegas ventured the democratic approach: "Hey, quick show of hands. Who wants the creative type? Who wants the quick and easy?"

Each color team was expected to create a skit, song or dance that represented its group. The "creative expression" was to be presented to the rest of the conference participants during breakfast.

Inspired by the expressions they already had witnessed that morning from other color teams, the gray team began brainstorming almost immediately. By the end of the afternoon session, team members had settled on the theme of "diversity" to represent their group. But the initial plans were grandiose, a skit just short of a Broadway musical.

The prospect of exploring the wonders of Disney with friends, however, can give new perspective to a group of student-athletes standing on the hotel patio at 10 o'clock on a balmy, Orlando night. Suddenly, coordinating a six-set skit with music changes and dance routines for a performance the next morning didn't seem so appealing.

Which brings us back to "Who wants the creative type?" and "Who wants the quick and easy?"

A show of hands did little to help matters; they were split.

Enter stage left: Compromise. For this group, that meant a willingness to take an idea, and through debate and discussion, make it feasible without sacrificing quality.

Bit by bit, the behemoth that had been their creative expression was whittled down to a free-flow rap, the snapping of fingers and a soft chant of "Gray, hey...Gray, hey." A basic shuffle replaced what could have been disastrous dance steps for some. More importantly, through it all, the spirit of what they had intended to share with others was preserved: They are a diverse group of people and proud of it.

They also happened to be efficient. By 11 p.m., there wasn't a gray team member in sight.

Initiative games: trust,
communication, teamwork

By Wednesday morning, gray team members found themselves at ABC's Wide World of Sports theme park for "initiative games." The games were actually exercises to test what they had learned to that point and to determine if they knew how to apply those concepts in real life.

* The Trust Lean

This activity paired student-athletes of similar size and build. One became a Faller or a Catcher and acted accordingly. By blindly falling backward into the arms of a relative stranger, these basic elements of trust were emphasized: There is safety in trust, trust is necessary for others to fully engage and it's critical to forming productive relationships.

The activity also highlighted the notion that one should call loudly to the catcher when intending to fall.

* The Hula Hoop Pass.

Did you ever see a 6-foot, 9-inch basketball player jump through a mini hula hoop and pass it on to the 5-foot, 4-inch softball player he is holding hands with? The challenge of this exercise was for gray team members to move four hula hoops over their bodies, around the circle and back to their starting places without letting go of hands, all within an allotted period of time.

They were shooting for one minute, 20 seconds, but they quickly realized how lofty a goal that was using their method of tripping and getting stuck in the hoop.

There was frustration, quickly followed by blame. "It's that blue hoop. It's a bad hoop; it's all crooked and it's slowing us down."

There was strategy. "The tall people should stand together to save time." "We should keep the little hoops far apart in the circle." "It helps if you keep your arm raised while passing the hula hoop to the next person."

There were feats of athleticism.

Ultimately, the teamwork and communication required in the exercise helped the gray team achieve what had seemed impossible at first: task completion in one minute and 22 seconds. Close enough.

Closure: goodbyes and assessment

After a night of dancing and celebration, gray team members found their way to the meeting room for one last morning session. Having analyzed, role-played and witnessed leadership with and from others in the group, there was little left to do but share some final thoughts and say goodbye.

"I knew that I wanted to continue to excel when I got back to school. But I think to take care of myself, I'm going to work on my personal relationships."

"I learned everyone loves each other and we all want to do well for each other."

"I hope we can all go back and continue to be inspired."

"I've learned that there are all types of leaders."

"We can all come together as long as we're trying to do the same thing."

What began as a steady stream of strangers filing into the Fiesta Ballroom Sunday night ended with fast friendships, shared memories and pledges to keep in touch and support each other's project implementations.

They came thinking they could be leaders and left with the knowledge that they are.

Such was the wonder of the 2000 NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference.

Gray team