At the 2026 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) National Leadership Conference, one of the nation's largest and most prestigious business competitions, ten students from Irvine High School's FBLA chapter were able to secure two fourth-place finishes in the country, achieved by both the Sports & Entertainment Management and the International Business teams.
Held in San Antonio, Texas, the annual conference brought together approximately 16,000 of the nation's top business students. Irvine High School was represented across four highly competitive events, with students demonstrating advanced business knowledge, problem-solving skills, and presentation abilities on a national stage.
The teams consisted of:
- Sports & Entertainment Management team: Lennon Coffin, Rujul Kumar and Dev Mittal
- International Business team: Dhruv Anand, Hoang (Ben) Mai and Shouryan Mohammed
- Additional Irvine High competitors included Fidan Aliyeva, Sebastian Corzano and Chanyoung Jung in Sales Presentation, and Caroline Chen in Financial Statement Analysis.
An Elite Competition Achievement
Students qualify for the national tournament at the California State Leadership Conference. Only the highest-performing competitors continue to the National Leadership Conference, representing approximately the top 5% of competitors nationwide.
In both Sports & Entertainment Management and International Business, students first complete a rigorous written examination. The highest-scoring teams advance to the final round, where they are presented with an unfamiliar business scenario and given just 20 minutes to develop a comprehensive solution.
Teams then deliver a seven-minute presentation to judges, who evaluate each proposal based on its feasibility, strategic thinking, professionalism and relevance to the prompt.
Out of roughly 200 qualifying teams in each event, Irvine High's students advanced to the top 15 before ultimately earning fourth place nationally.
Preparing Students for Real-World Business Success
These students are a part of the Business and Entrepreneurship (CTE) course. CTE works to connect classroom learning with real-world applications. Through CTE pathways, students gain technical knowledge alongside professional skills such as leadership, collaboration, communication and problem-solving, preparing them for success in college, careers and beyond.
Led by the team advisors and CTE teachers Stephanie Fair and Gary Russell, the team鈥檚 back-to-back national successes highlight the strength of Irvine High School's business program and the opportunities available through .
Join us in congratulating Irvine High on these incredible achievements!