AthLife Foundation

Schools Draw Up College Preparation Game Plan

Park East, Irvington, Curtis, and West Hill High School student athletes have begun their transition into young adult leaders. On Sunday October 2nd, deserving student athletes from these four different high schools attended a workshop at Park East High School presented by the N4A. Academic Coordinators Britney Clarke from Syracuse University, and Ryan Westman from Seton Hall University hosted the session. Both Britney and Ryan are members of the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics.

The workshop developed a game plan to help high school students better prepare for NCAA eligibility requirements for collegiate athletics. This includes encouraging student athletes to build a strong GPA, take approved core courses by checking the NCAA eligibility center website, register to take ACT and/or SAT during Junior year, and to complete required core courses before Senior year. In addition, students were shown the necessary skills needed to excel in both academics and athletics in a college environment.

“To see students come out to see us on a Sunday morning shows how committed they are to their future. These are the type of students who will make the most of the opportunities ahead of them. They are the students who I would have wanted to be my teammates and classmates.” – Ryan J. Westmann, Seton Hall University

“What an amazing experience we had taking time out to speak with student-athletes that were eager to receive the information we had.” – Britney T. Clarke, Syracuse University

Kowalski Robinson Scholarship Awarded to Top Student Athletes

Easton, PA (September 29, 2016) The AthLife Foundation announced that 15 student athletes from eight different high schools were awarded the Kowalski Robinson Youth Inspire Scholarship for the 2016-2017 academic year. In the spring of 2014, the AthLife Foundation’s national network established the scholarship fund for deserving student-athletes, who have made an impact in their respective schools and surrounding community. Three award recipients shared their academic-athletic success journeys at the AthLife Foundation’s National Conference in Philadelphia in July.

“It’s with great honor and privilege that we recognize all of our student athlete awardees,” said AthLife President and CEO Jon Harris. “Though this fund, we continue to honor the legacy of two prominent influencers in the sport and player development industry in Tom Kowalski and Stacy Robinson.”

Tariq Jarrah from Loius E. Dieruff High School (Allentown, PA), spoke about his experience playing football and the impact his academic-athletic coach had on his success, which has led him to pursue a collegiate career at Lehigh University. At the 2016 AthLife Youth Inspire Awards Reception, Tariq stated, “I was so proud to be selected for something like this, for people that are motivated, and have that much passion, and have that much desire to get things done to help student athletes across the world.”

Graduate from Park East High School (Manhattan, NY), Foxae Foster, who is attending SUNY Cortland said, “Some people feel that doing sports, it lags you down, and you can’t do it anymore. But, actually it helps you push. Because if you really love it, and you want to pursue that sport, you know what you have to do academically.”

Also joining Jarrah and Foster was Todgenay Roseboro, graduate of Urban Dove Team Charter High School (Brooklyn, NY). The three representatives from the Class of 2016 shared the awards reception stage with two former NFL players, Will Allen from the Pittsbrugh Steelers, and current NFLPA player Affairs and Development Director, Zamir Cobb. Both received the annual AthLife Youth Inspire Award for their community work and volunteerism.

AthLife Youth Inspire Award Recognizes NFL Player and NFLPA Director

Will Allen and Zamir Cobb Highlight an Evening of Inspiration to Communities

Philadelphia, PA (July 13, 2016) – The AthLife Foundation presented Ohio State University Alumnus and former Pittsburgh Steelers Safety, Will Allen, along with Temple University Alumnus and former Arizona Cardinal Wide Receiver, Zamir Cobb, with the organization’s 2016 AthLife Youth Inspire Award. This special recognition took place at the AthLife Foundation’s 7^th Annual Conference Reception, on Thursday, July 14^th, at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel in Philadelphia, PA.

AthLife, a national leader in providing career development, education, and life skill services to current and former professional athletes, created the charitable AthLife Foundation in 2010. The Foundation serves as a launch pad for underperforming high schools that traditionally serve students from challenged communities, to build high impact programs that drive academic achievement and bright futures beyond the athletic arena.

In 2014, AthLife initiated the social media campaign #MoreThan to promote the abundance of positive stories about athletes and athletic organizations. The AthLife Youth Inspire Award was subsequently established to publicly honor those that have truly embraced their status as elite athletes to impact their community.

Allen launched the Will Allen Foundation in 2008, with the mission to provide programs and resources to instill hope, remove barriers, promote education, advocate civic responsibility, and change lives. “I’ve always had someone in my life speak positive things over me, encourage me and empower me with wisdom and knowledge, and they did it for free,” he said. “How can I not reciprocate that?”

Cobb, who now serves as the Player Affairs and Development Director at the NFLPA, is well known for promoting participatory volunteerism which encompasses giving time, and being truly present. “I think what the kids can learn from me is that no matter what the circumstance is, what situation you find yourself in, how big the wall or how strong the barrier, at some point you’ll get a break and your situation won’t always be so hopeless,” Cobb explained.

The night also reconginzed contributions to the AthLife Foundation National platform, the schools it serves, and the student athletes.

Vision with Precision

“Having a vision is fun, vision with precision gets it done.”

Submitted by: Dr. Rob Fazio, OnPoint Advising

Vision statements on a wall, on a website, or on a piece of paper can serve a purpose for businesses, but they don’t lead to success. The purpose of a vision is to have something not just to move towards, but to achieve. We need to challenge ourselves to move beyond just the emotional connection to a vision and focus on mapping out the hard work it takes to get somewhere you want to go. A big mistake leaders make is that they think simply having a vision is enough, it’s not.

Research and reality tells us how it is. Psychologist Lien Pham and Shelley Tailor from University of California (Pham & Taylor, 1999) put students into two groups. They asked one group (Group A) to visualize how great it would be to get a high grade. The other group (Group B) wasn’t asked to visualize the positive feelings associated with the end state of a high grade. Both groups kept track of the hours they spent studying. Even though the group that visualized the positive feelings associated with a good grade only did this for a few minutes it had a negative impact on the amount of time they studied as well as their grades. The group of students (Group A) that visualized the positive feelings ended up studying less and ended up with lower grades. The visualization may have made them feel good, but it did not prepare them for success and therefore set them up for failure. My view is that Group A, that associated the positive feelings with the outcome, became overconfident and were not aware and/or not realistic about how to get to what they wanted.

What makes the point more clear are the results the researchers had of a third group of students (Group C). This group was asked to visualize the “how”, or the process of getting an A for a few moments a day. They were asked to get into more detail and visualize how and what they would do to get an A. Compared to the students (Group A) that just visualized the outcome of getting an A, and to the students that weren’t asked to do anything (Group B), the students that were asked to visualize the “how” (Group C) ended up studying more hours and earned higher exam grades than both groups. The researchers concluded that visualizing the steps to prepare them for success put them on a more realistic and practical path to succeed.

I have seen the same story play out again and again. Countless executives I work with tell stories of motivational speakers that get them fired up by seeing success. Seeing success is not enough, you also have to see the steps.

So what do you do? Put in the precision with three essential steps: Vision, Envision, and Revision. Vision is where you want to go. Envision is where you are, what you are getting, and how you get to where you want to go. Finally, Revision is what you need to change to get to where you want to be. In the Revision stage you can either change your vision or change your envision (steps).

Now if you want to inspire people toward a vision, think of your senses: See, Feel, Think, and Act. Tap into as many senses as possible. Connect with people multiple ways so you provide them with an emotional hook. The goal is to create initiative. A clear vision with the following components not only brings you closer to where you want to go, but it gets people motivated to work with you rather than against you. Another simple way to remember what you need in a vision is to just think of it as using your eyes, heart, head, and hands.

See (Eyes) Where are we going? People want to have something to move toward together. When you help people “See” you are answering one main question, where are we going? Think of this as painting a picture for people.

Feel (Heart) Why are we going there? Nothing is more powerful than emotion. Purpose taps into emotion. The main questions you are answering when you create the “Feel” is why are we doing this and what is the purpose? People get behind a purpose. The purpose can be as simple as something clearly telling people what the value is in achieving the vision.

Think (Head) How will get there and Who is responsible? Think is all about the plan. It’s the how and who aspect of the strategy. This is where some of the details of a plan get communicated. In this step in the vision process you let people know who will be playing what part. It’s the roadmap. The more specific you can be the better. Set up milestones and metrics. Include how you will measure progress, success, and failure.

Act (Hands) What is the first step and action items? Act is where you communicate what the steps are and where to start. This is different than the “Think” aspect of the vision in that it is more detailed and specific. The focus is on doing rather than just planning.

I remember hearing about a 2007 McKinsey & Company study (Dye and Sibony, 2007) that highlighted 3/4 of executive participants in strategic planning. Half of them were not happy with the process and less than a quarter used the strategic plan. The best visions are the ones that become a reality. It takes work, but now you know how. By reading this you are just another step toward success. Make your next step count and enjoy the journey.

Dr. Rob Fazio is the author of Simple is the New Smart. He is the Managing Partner of OnPoint Advising, Inc. Rob partners with executives, athletes, and businesses internationally to guide them toward success. He can be reached at [email protected]. This article was reproduced with permission from the author and The Career Press.

The Real Harbaugh Opportunity

From Fleeting Adulation to Substantive Education: Harbaugh, the University of Michigan, and a New Opportunity in Big Time College Sports

Submitted by: Dr. Solomon Hughes, Stanford University

Long gone are the days of the college football tramp, the free agent athlete who roamed the country in the early 1900’s (near the start of college athletic competitions) in order to offer his football talents for a season, in exchange for adulation, room, board, and expenses – but not classes.

College football has long since evolved from those days and students must be enrolled in a full-time load of classes in order to compete on the football team, but for all the work that has gone into creating this reformed world of college football, there are still major concerns around what college football players get from their higher education experience. Do they leave with an education that better suits them to positively contribute to the world around them, or do they leave with only the memories of a football career to think back on?

In his first year as Stanford’s head football coach, former university of Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh famously disparaged his alma mater Michigan for what he considered was its propensity for luring high achieving athletes to the institution but not encouraging their investment into the educational offerings of the university, thus leaving them under-prepared to navigate life after college football.

Coming off a successful first-year at the helm of the University of Michigan’s football team, Jim Harbaugh and the University of Michigan will be center stage this upcoming college football season after securing one of college footballs top recruiting classes, that class includes the nations top high school prospect, defensive tackle Rashan Gary, an incredibly talented football player that leaps tall buildings.

Jaw-dropping recruiting classes aside.

Harbaugh has stated that Michigan is a good school, but that as a former player he saw high school football players recruited that were far less prepared academically than their non-athlete peers. According to Harbaugh those same players were then steered down the academic path of least resistance while being exhorted to give their all on the football field. The investment they made to improve as football players reaped success on the field. They were adulated on the field by the Michigan community, but not educated in the Universities’ classrooms. When their athletic eligibility expired, their job prospects beyond professional sports were far more limited than their non-athlete University of Michigan peers.

Harbaugh appears to understand this and, hopefully, is doing something to change it. A Michigan alum who has reached the pinnacle of success as an NFL coach, Harbaugh understands the big time college athlete’s life and casts a disapproving eye on the fate that has befallen the overwhelming majority who don’t pan out professionally and enter the world that begins where their athletic eligibility ends, without a degree or a meaningful education to leverage into a career. Thus far it appears that he has the track record to prove it. According to the NCAA’s annual updates on the graduation rates of student athletes his very first class of freshman at Stanford had nearly a 100% graduation rate. Time will tell if he changes what he experienced at Michigan as a student.

Big time college sports are at a crossroads. While football and basketball revenues soar, one recent study reveals that 98 percent of all college sports programs graduate their football and basketball players at rates lower than all other student athletes. The soaring revenues generated by their athletic prowess provide entertainment for the masses (and money to fund all other NCAA sports) but the academic outcomes of those same revenue generating players continue to lag at alarming rates.

Perhaps Harbaugh’s return to Michigan (a model public institution) is an encouraging sign. While at Stanford he participated in a recruiting process that included multiple campus partners outside of the athletic department. The partnership across the academic-athletic divide ensured that students who were recruited to play football at Stanford were vetted as capable of thriving at Stanford as scholars. This partnership extends well past the initial commitment to attend the institution, and support in and outside of the athletic department is offered for the entirety of the student athlete’s tenure.

Additionally Stanford’s commitments to maintaining contact with alumni student athletes allows incoming recruits to look ahead and see where the initial signing of a letter of intent could eventually lead if they invest in the many academic resources available on campus.

Let us hope that in a few years (when the measurable are available) we will be able to say that the Harbaugh and Michigan reunion injected integrity into the spaces of higher education where it is desperately needed, and that the players he recruits thrive in a college culture where education precedes adulation.