Jan. 26, 2011
On Monday, Jan. 24 over 500 UCLA student-athletes, Bruin athletic department staff and coaches gathered in historic Pauley Pavilion for the annual Wooden Academy. The theme of the evening was `Competitive Greatness' and featured Rafer Johnson, UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame 1984 charter inductee and 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist in the decathlon. Acting as host for the evening was Valorie Kondos Field, Bruin women's gymnastics head coach who last summer was also inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
The evening presentation was a unique opportunity to learn about the amazing life of Rafer Johnson. Johnson shared many stories - - as a Bruin student-athlete in the mid-to-late 1950s under John Wooden in basketball and Ducky Drake in track & field and as a UCLA student body president; his Gold Medal winning experience in the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games competing against Bruin teammate C. K. Yang when both Johnson and Yang were coached by Drake; his 1968 presidential campaign experience with Robert F. Kennedy and RFK's assassination in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968; and his work as a founding member with Special Olympics Southern California.
Echoing Coach Wooden's teaching and philosophy, Johnson encouraged everyone "to be the best you can be" at all times.
"Listening to Rafer Johnson was a great experience for me and my teammates," said Todd Golper, a sophomore linebacker on the Bruin football team from Arcadia, CA. "It was very insightful and great to meet someone of his prominence."
The Wooden Academy is the UCLA Athletic Department's leadership development program that is designed to educate and support the standards of leadership for Bruin student-athletes. The pillars of The Wooden Academy are teamwork, leadership and character. The goal is to teach the values and principles that Coach Wooden used to create his `Pyramid of Success.' It was Coach Wooden's hope that the Wooden Academy would educate and inspire current Bruins in their pursuit to be successful leaders and teammates as they prepare to be champions in life.
"Rafer Johnson was a great person to talk to us about the `Pyramid of Success' and playing under the famous John Wooden," said Amelia Mathis, a junior on the UCLA women's soccer team from Ventura, CA. "Something that I can take away from this is that the Bruin family is actually bigger than it may seem. Rafer still comes and watches different UCLA sports compete. I think that shows the pride of being a Bruin. I am sure that everyone walked away from the Academy in awe, because Rafer has been through so much."
The inaugural Wooden Academy began in 2007 and featured Coach Wooden and UCLA Hall of Fame woman's basketball player, Ann Meyers Drysdale. Since then, The Wooden Academy has enlisted the experience and talent of some of the school's most prominent Bruin alumni to share their stories of success and leadership. Wooden Academy speakers over the last five years have included - - Sue Enquist, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Terry Donahue, Rick Neuheisel, Ed Kezirian, Beth Orozco, Paul Nihipali, Andy Hill, Valorie Kondos Field and Kim Anthony Hamilton. In addition, each event spotlights a block of Coach Wooden's `Pyramid of Success' and provides participants with practical leadership lessons.
"The Wooden Academy is not only about listening to inspiring stories from and about Bruin alums," said gymnast Allison Taylor, a senior from Dallas, TX. "It is also an incredible opportunity to meet our legends personally and expand our professional networks. Rafer Johnson embodies not only what it means to be a true Bruin and elite athlete, but also what it is to be an exemplary human being."