Jessica Dale, Student Representative

After her competitive soccer career ended with shattered ribs in 2001, Jessica Dale chose to tutor and mentor student-athletes in order to maintain her scholarship at the University of Texas (UT). In Fall 2003, she was able to collaborate with a social work professor to create Longhorn Leaders; a program featuring student-athletes communicating the importance of academic and personal success to at-risk youth. After completing her B.A. in Government and Sociology in 2005, she received an invitation to continue her efforts with the Longhorn Leaders in the Master’s in Social Work program at UT. Following graduation from the M.S.W. program in 2007, she enrolled in the Master of Arts in Sport and Performance Psychology (MASPP) program at the University of Denver (DU) to learn more about how to work with student-athletes. During the MASPP program, she initiated research on incorporating individuals with disabilities into sport. In conjunction with this, she developed a cheerleading program for college-aged special needs cheerleaders and presented the program at a recent AASP conference. In May 2008, she transitioned into DU’s clinical psychology Psy.D. program. Since then Jessica has worked in the Division of Athletics and Recreation as a sport psychology consultant. She has also been employed at the Eating Disorder Center of Denver and served as a consultant to DU Athletics for eating disorders. She recently completed an advanced practicum with Counseling Services at Colorado State University and will start her pre-doctoral internship with Counseling and Consultation Services at The Ohio State University this September.