By Felix Hoover

for YourNewsColumbus.com

 Columbus--About 50 scholar-athletes from throughout the state were urged to take their leadership skills to another level at a conference on Tuesday at the Fawcett Center at Ohio State University.

The group heard words of encouragement and inspiration from several speakers, including OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith; Kate Riffee, director of donor relations and stewardship with the athletic department; and Harvey Alston, whom Riffee described as a motivational teacher, not just a motivational speaker.

Alston, who has been on the talk circuit full-time the past 17 years, speaks about 225 a year throughout the world. For the past six years he has had a standing engagement with the Ohio High School Athletic Association and has been the key to the leadership conferences, former Commissioner Clair Muscaro said.

Alston’s being a success story from an urban school, East High, makes him an ideal role model for the programs, Muscaro said.

Alston also speaks to many of the other members of the National Federation of High Schools.

The message that he hammers home is: “Be the best at whatever you are.”

“Always be there for your teammates, even though you’re injured,” is an aspect of being the best, said Rhayne Smitherman, a junior on Westerville Central’s volleyball team.

Her school mate Paige Sterling, a junior on the soccer team, planned to provide an example of Smitherman’s philosophy by playing in a tournament match that afternoon despite have a foot injury that required her to wear a brace during the day.

For Zach Swick, one of the lessons he learned at the conference was to listen to the young players who are still developing.

“You need to be there for all of your teammates, not just the good ones,” he said.

Schools were allowed to send up to four students to the conference, one of six such events the OHSAA holds annually.

Even though the students were away from school for the program, they had homework to do in the form of questionnaires about the day’s events and about OHSAA efforts, such as the Respect the Game campaign to promote sportsmanship among teams and fans.