The Great Lakes Valley Conference is sponsoring its first “Aspire Summit” Tuesday through Thursday at the University of Indianapolis for GLVC-member female head and assistant coaches, graduate assistants and other athletics administrators to further their careers.

The GLVC is using conference grant dollars to fund the summit as a professional-development tool for experienced and novice athletics personnel at GLVC member schools.

“This is intended for coaches, graduate assistants and other administrators who might not otherwise have had the opportunity, time or resources to attend the NACWAA convention,” said GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich. “We like to try to send as many people to NACWAA as we can, but we felt there was an unmet need in the conference in that regard, so we are setting aside conference grant funding for individuals to come to a two-and-a-half-day workshop at the University of Indianapolis to take advantage of the expertise of some of our more experienced league members.”

The summit also draws from other Indianapolis-based institutions, such as Division I Butler University and the Division I Horizon League office, and members of the Indiana Sports Corporation. Horizon League Senior Associate Commissioner Alfreeda Goff and Indianapolis AD Sue Willey are among the speakers.

“The summit features presentations from females who are involved in athletics and have a good story to tell and can provide valuable feedback to younger people just entering the field,” Naumovich said.

Also featured is a reception at the NCAA national office for summit participants to network with NCAA staff.

“We want participants to learn from accomplished professionals in the field while also learning from each other about what they want to do with their careers,” Naumovich said.

The summit supplements the NACWAA convention and the NACWAA/HERS Institute devoted to developing female administrators. Naumovich said the summit provides an additional opportunity at a different time of year designed for less-experienced personnel.

“These are the individuals who are relatively new to their field,” he said. “How do they prepare themselves, what do they need to do and who do they need to know? That’s what this opportunity will emphasize.”

Summit sessions focus on a history of women’s athletics, career-pathing, conflict management, networking, budgeting, diversity and legal issues.