The Full Roster: The Playbook

A professional development ecosystem for every athletics professional in your school.

Most professional development in athletics centers around the Athletic Directors: certifications, leadership academies, and conferences built to sharpen budget management, compliance, and strategic planning. These matter, but strong athletics programs are built by the entire team.

From the PE teacher coaching their first JV season to the varsity head coach leading a staff to the Assistant Athletic Director keeping everything moving, athletics professionals at every level are being asked to lead - often without the development or support to do it well.

The Full Roster changes that. It creates a structured, relationship-centered professional home where athletics professionals can build their leadership skills, learn alongside peers, and grow at every stage of their journey. Because when you invest in the people behind your program, the impact reaches every team, every roster, every season.

Explore more Full Roster cohort opportunities:

The Captaincy Cohort The Coach's Craft Cohort The Complete Coach Cohort

How It Works

The Huddle

Eight sessions of 60-75 minutes each, every 3-4 weeks over 9 months, starting in October 2026, after your fall seasons have launched. Groups of 6-12 participants from around the country are placed in each cohort, intentionally matched cross-school and cross-sport to promote divergent thinking and learning.

Please note: Online recordings of sessions will be kept private and not forwarded to anyone. A synthesis of topics, learning, and themes will be generated and provided to registrants after each session, absent of specific registrant contributions.

How might every athletics professional in your school grow, lead, and thrive?

Will Bladt

ElevatED Leadership Coaching

Will Bladt is an independent school professional, with more than 30 years serving as an athletics coach, science teacher, lower and middle school director, enrollment management director, athletic director, development director, and associate head of school. He has seen firsthand the impact strong, supported leadership can have on a school community.

Throughout Will's career, the work that has fulfilled him most has been developing other leaders-helping them grow, lead with clarity, and succeed on their own terms. Whether supporting leaders emerging from within the faculty or joining from other schools, watching them step into their potential and thrive has been the most meaningful part of his own leadership journey.

That passion led Will to launch ElevatED Leadership Coaching.

He understands that independent school leaders often carry enormous responsibility with little dedicated support. Throughout his own career, both receiving support from others and providing it to colleagues have often made the difference between simply navigating a challenge and truly succeeding.

His passion lies in coaching the people who drive the daily life of schools-from athletics administrators and staff to division directors, assistant heads, deans, and department chairs. These leaders are at the center of school communities, and he believes they deserve thoughtful, strategic, and personalized coaching that helps them navigate complexity and lead with confidence.

His approach is grounded in collaboration, candor, and practical tools that move leaders forward. He helps school leaders think strategically, communicate clearly, and make decisions aligned with their values and their school's mission, all while keeping students and teachers at the heart of the work.

Outside of coaching, he pursues his own version of balance: snowboarding and camping in the mountains with family and friends, biking the Idaho hills, supporting his oldest daughter as a ballet dad, and coaching and refereeing soccer with his youngest daughter. He also makes time for the practices that keep him grounded, including meditation, yoga, and the occasional 5 a.m. boot camp.

Through ElevatED Leadership Coaching, he brings the full breadth of his experience, energy, and insight to supporting the leaders who make independent schools exceptional, helping them continue to show up for their communities while leading as their most authentic selves.

Mike Marich

Mindset Curated

Mike Marich has always been drawn to the work of developing people, building connections, and creating environments where individuals can do their best work. His path to independent school athletics wasn't exactly linear. After spending years in human resources at Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Deloitte, he found his way to coaching and school leadership - work that ultimately felt like where he belonged.

At The Frederick Gunn School, he served as Head Boys' Lacrosse Coach and Athletic Director & Dean of Co-Curricular Programming. There, he had the opportunity to build programs, develop coaches, and help shape an athletic department that connected mission, culture, and competition. He was named Coach of the Year three times and coached five All-Americans, but the part of the work he values most is the culture they built and the people who grew within it.

His work in athletics also extended beyond campus. He served on the NEPSAC Executive Board, as District IV President, and as Commissioner of the New England Eight-Player Football League. These experiences deepened his appreciation for collaboration, governance, and the important role athletics can play within an independent school community.

Today, through Mindset Curated, he partners with heads of school, athletic directors, and coaches to develop people, strengthen relationships, and build the system that allow athletic programs to thrive. He believes the strongest programs aren't simply built on winning, they're built on intentional leadership, healthy cultures, and people who understand why the work matters.

He's also the co-host of Sideline Ascent, a podcast focused on coaching, leadership, and a question he believes every coach should be asking: Who is developing you?

At the center of his work is a simple belief: when schools invest in the people leading their communities and athletic programs, they create better experiences for the people they lead, and ultimately, for students.