Long Represents North Florida At 2025 NCAA Leadership Forum
12/1/2025 11:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida women's tennis graduate Anslee Long has spent her collegiate career fulfilling a valuable leadership role both on and off the tennis court. In the fall, Long reached another milestone for her career when she represented UNF at the 2025 NCAA Leadership Forum.
Held from Nov. 22-25, the NCAA Leadership forum brought together 250 student-athletes from across all NCAA divisions and sports. According to NCAA officials, only 0.03 percent of college athletes nationwide are selected to attend, making the opportunity both rare and highly competitive.
"That was definitely the most beneficial thing to me was the values that already come naturally to me [such as] how to leverage those to be a better leader," Long said.
Throughout the weekend in late November, participants were divided into color-coded teams of approximately 25 student-athletes. Long was placed on the pink team, where she spent several hours each day working through leadership exercises provided by the NCAA.Â
The sessions focused on identifying personal values and strengths, improving communication skills and learning how to leverage individual traits to become more effective leaders. However, that wasn't the only valuable experience Long took from the forum.
"It was the people that I met," Long said. "Just being around like-minded people like myself for the whole weekend was really cool and inspiring to be around," Long said.
Participants shared meals together and took part in large group activities and competitions, creating an environment that encouraged relationship-building across sports and divisions.
"More people knew about [North Florida] than I maybe thought they would, which was definitely cool," Long said. "To represent UNF definitely felt good. They said 0.03% of college athletes get to come to this forum. That in itself is really amazing. Also, [Donna Kirk] selecting me out of all of the athletes here to go is also really cool."
Long's selection for the forum reflects her extensive leadership experience at North Florida. She served as a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAC) representative for three years, vice chair last year and currently holds the role of SAC president position at UNF.
Her involvement mirrors that of many forum attendees, as SAC leadership was a common thread among participants. Moreover, Long was proud to showcase North Florida on a national stage.
"Having UNF select me for this was really special," Long said. "It's an amazing opportunity, and it's something that means a lot to represent my school in that way."
As Long returns to campus, she plans to apply the lessons learned from the NCAA Leadership Forum to her roles within the women's tennis program and SAC, continuing to shape the student-athlete experience at North Florida.
Long's career as an Osprey has been incredibly decorated as she gears up for her final season at North Florida this spring. On the court, Long was named to the 2022 ASUN All-Freshman Team and played a key role in UNF winning the 2023 ASUN Championship. Long has posted a career record of 29-28 in singles play and a dominant 28-21 mark in doubles.
North Florida begins its 2026 spring slate against Florida Atlantic on Friday, Jan. 16 at 1 p.m. at UNF Tennis Complex.
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