Student Athletes: Beyond the Dream
Donation protected
Scoring the winning run, throwing the Hail Mary pass, or dunking the ball for the championship is the stuff student athletes’ dreams are made of. Beyond the pro dream, student athletes need to become productive, contributing members of society. Using their athletic talent to get a college degree is a positive option, but for middle and high school student athletes in low-income communities, often times there is little to no information about how to prepare for a career off the field or court, and then they are left with no career plans at all.
The reality: according to 2013 statistics from ncaa.org, out of approximately 1,086,627 US high school football players, less than 2% of them make a successful transition from NCAA programs to the NFL and just over 1% become professional men’s basketball players. The statistics are even more dismal for other sports.
Athletic talent was supposed to be a ticket to a better life, but the odds are not good and the reality of young student athletes with no direction beyond a career in sports is that they can end up with low-wage jobs, depression, drugs, crime and a troubled life of uncertainty.
We need your help to change this outcome for young North Carolina student athletes.
APLS Group Institute, a division of APLS Group, a 15-year-old training and consulting firm in Raleigh, NC, is seeking funding to cover the expenses of delivering "College and the Business of Athletics," a two-hour workshop designed for lower-income middle and high school student athletes to attend with their parents and coaches. Each workshop covers college preparation from middle school to admission. The purpose is to educate student athletes and their parents on how to develop a partnership between solid academics and athletics through high school class planning for college eligibility, information on college entrance exams, financial aid, working with coaches and counselors, and much more, with the goal of setting student athletes on the right path for obtaining a college degree to secure their futures. All workshops will be co-presented by Karen Parker, a former high school counselor; and Nick Vassil, a former football coach and parent of a former NCAA football player.
We plan to hold 21 workshops for this audience completely free-of-charge. We will partner with schools identified by the North Carolina School Report Card as low performing in reading and math to ensure that we are reaching the student athletes most in need. "College and the Business of Athletics" workshops will be offered in the evening on school campuses, and 100% of funds raised will go directly to covering materials and expenses for delivering the workshops. And yes, snacks will be provided!
Why do you need my help?
This year APLS Group established APLS Group Institute, whose mission it is to offer programs of interest to educators, students and parents of students in kindergarten through college. APLS Group has been generously supporting the development of "College and the Business of Athletics" for the last several months, and we’re now turning to you to partner with us get the program out into the communities that need it most.
What’s in it for me?
Well, a few things:
· You are invited to attend a special, invitation-only session of "College and the Business of Athletics," presented exclusively to donors and their own student athletes.
· You will know that you (or your company) had a direct hand in empowering low-income student athletes with information and tips to get them on the college track and allow them to have a future off the court/field.
Please join us in our efforts to support student athletes in working class families by contributing to our program. You never know how your generosity might encourage a student athlete to attend college and later make innovations that change the world. Isn’t that possibility worth a contribution?
The reality: according to 2013 statistics from ncaa.org, out of approximately 1,086,627 US high school football players, less than 2% of them make a successful transition from NCAA programs to the NFL and just over 1% become professional men’s basketball players. The statistics are even more dismal for other sports.
Athletic talent was supposed to be a ticket to a better life, but the odds are not good and the reality of young student athletes with no direction beyond a career in sports is that they can end up with low-wage jobs, depression, drugs, crime and a troubled life of uncertainty.
We need your help to change this outcome for young North Carolina student athletes.
APLS Group Institute, a division of APLS Group, a 15-year-old training and consulting firm in Raleigh, NC, is seeking funding to cover the expenses of delivering "College and the Business of Athletics," a two-hour workshop designed for lower-income middle and high school student athletes to attend with their parents and coaches. Each workshop covers college preparation from middle school to admission. The purpose is to educate student athletes and their parents on how to develop a partnership between solid academics and athletics through high school class planning for college eligibility, information on college entrance exams, financial aid, working with coaches and counselors, and much more, with the goal of setting student athletes on the right path for obtaining a college degree to secure their futures. All workshops will be co-presented by Karen Parker, a former high school counselor; and Nick Vassil, a former football coach and parent of a former NCAA football player.
We plan to hold 21 workshops for this audience completely free-of-charge. We will partner with schools identified by the North Carolina School Report Card as low performing in reading and math to ensure that we are reaching the student athletes most in need. "College and the Business of Athletics" workshops will be offered in the evening on school campuses, and 100% of funds raised will go directly to covering materials and expenses for delivering the workshops. And yes, snacks will be provided!
Why do you need my help?
This year APLS Group established APLS Group Institute, whose mission it is to offer programs of interest to educators, students and parents of students in kindergarten through college. APLS Group has been generously supporting the development of "College and the Business of Athletics" for the last several months, and we’re now turning to you to partner with us get the program out into the communities that need it most.
What’s in it for me?
Well, a few things:
· You are invited to attend a special, invitation-only session of "College and the Business of Athletics," presented exclusively to donors and their own student athletes.
· You will know that you (or your company) had a direct hand in empowering low-income student athletes with information and tips to get them on the college track and allow them to have a future off the court/field.
Please join us in our efforts to support student athletes in working class families by contributing to our program. You never know how your generosity might encourage a student athlete to attend college and later make innovations that change the world. Isn’t that possibility worth a contribution?
Organizer
Nick Vassil
Organizer
Raleigh, NC
