Sparta — In an effort to further encourage growth and development among student-athletes — not just physically, but mentally — the district has brought in some extra help for the 2025-26 school year.
Sparta has contracted with performance coach Dan Hunt, a former tennis coach at Ferris State University who now consults with schools to help bring out the best in athletes. Hunt’s Meraki Performance program is designed to foster focus, confidence and resilience among athletes, and he’ll be working all year with Sparta High School teams and coaches.
During Hunt’s first meeting with athletes in August, he laid the foundation for the work in the year ahead. He spoke to students about developing the mental skills to help them be at their best in the midst of competition and other high-pressure situations.
“What we’re really trying to help them identify (are) these focuses and patterns and skills that will help enhance their performance, and identify the focuses that actually decrease or diminish their performance,” said Hunt.
Throughout the school year, he will meet monthly with teams, individuals and coaches to build on those skills, with the goal of improving experiences — and results — for Sparta’s sports program.
“My intention is to help individuals be able to give themselves fully to things,” Hunt said. “We want student-athletes, and we want coaches, to be all-in with what they’re doing, and experience the fulfillment and the purpose and the satisfaction of the development through that.”
Doing it for the Right Reasons
Though the work is just getting started, students like seniors Charlie Alt and Logan Brooks — both track and football athletes — are already liking what they’re hearing.
Charlie said Hunt’s first session focuses a lot on visualization, attitude, motivation and “breaking the wall” between competing for glory and competing for self-fulfillment.
The seniors said they took a lot from an anecdote Hunt shared about his own experience with sports, and how he got so hung up on “chasing a trophy” that he lost sight of other important parts of life.
“He taught us that we care more about what other people think of us, so we don’t really get out of our shell,” Logan said. “We just stay hidden or run, instead of fighting through the pain.”
Those concepts are key to the program’s success, Hunt said.
“When you begin to develop, for example, a focus around your identity or self image, and you don’t rely on that being entirely influenced by others, you become a more confident, self-assured individual,” he said.
Leaving a Legacy
Hunt said the name of his program — Meraki Performance — is emblematic of the program’s purpose.
“It’s actually a Greek word that there’s no English translation for,” he said. “‘Meraki’ means to do something with such love, focus and intention that you leave a piece of yourself behind.”
Hunt said he hopes to empower students to do just that.
‘We want student-athletes, and we want coaches, to be all-in with what they’re doing, and experience the fulfillment and the purpose and the satisfaction of the development through that.’
— Dan Hunt, Meraki Performance
“It’s like leaving a legacy,” he said. “The richness and depth of that is really what we’re embodying.”
Bringing in Meraki Performance is one strategy being employed by new Athletic Director Josh Sepanik to reignite interest in the district’s athletic program.
“We really brought (Hunt) in to continue to push beyond (students’) physical limits, to continue to grow on and off the field, and, hopefully, to help build our programs for the long haul,” Sepanik said.
“Here at the high school, we want to be able to build our student-athletes and make sure that they’re mentally strong just like they’re physically strong. We want to continue to help them grow and be stronger leaders in the classroom and the community.”
Read more from Sparta:
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