Episode 48: Col. Bart Weiss on Support, Humility, and Excellence
/“What does athletics teach you? It’s not about you, it’s about the other ten guys on that team, the other four in basketball...it’s about everyone working together for a common purpose, for a common goal, and you shouldn’t care who gets the credit as long as you accomplish that goal.”
Col. Bart Weiss is the Director of Athletic Operations at the Community School of Naples, in Naples, FL. He has a truly impressive background in sport and at the United States Air Force. He recently retired after nearly 30 years of service as a full Colonel, and before retiring from active duty in 2014 to join CSN, Weiss served as the Academy’s Deputy Athletic Director. As Deputy Athletic Director of the USAF Academy he oversaw 27 NCAA Division I sport programs and supervised physical education and fitness programs to over 4,000 USAF Academy cadets. Col. Weiss was born in Muskegon, Michigan but grew up in Naples and graduated from Naples High school in 1982. He is a 1986 graduate of the US Air Force Academy and earned a master's of science from Marymount University in 1998 and graduated from the US Army Carlisle Barracks in 2006 with a master’s in National Security Strategy. As a member of the class of 1986 Col. Weiss was named a conference offensive player of the year, 1985 First-team all-conference, and 1985 runner up for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. In 1985, Weiss was the first player in USAFA history to rush and pass for over 1,000 yards in a season and led the 1985 team to a 12-1 overall record and #4 national ranking. He was also recently inducted into the United States Air Force Academy Hall of Fame. In addition to these leadership experiences, during his career in the Air Force he led 480 cadet-candidates through a balanced curriculum of military training, academic education and athletic competition and also led and commanded flying squadrons and multiple operational units worldwide. He served in Washington DC working alongside both military leaders and members of Congress, and is a command pilot with 5,000 flying hours. He served as Vice President Gore’s pilot on Air Force Two, and also spent a year augmenting Air Force One! Kathy and Col. Weiss met up on the road this week and spent time digging into the “secret sauce” for parents of balancing support and humility, teaching excellence, integrity, respect, and instilling discipline in athletes. He delves into the dynamics of when to be a leader and when to fold into an existing entity and work your way up. His wisdom on the importance of failure and seeing the big picture is so helpful, and we believe parents and athletes will gain so much from the wisdom in this episode. Learning from his focus on teachability and cheering on the entire team was such an honor to us, and we hope this episode inspires excellence in you and your athletes this week!
