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June, what a great month for sports fans! The US Open, NBA Finals, NFL Draft, World Cup, start of Wimbledon, Giants and A's both in first, 49ers first mandatory mini camp, my birthday, Fathers Day, and the start of summer. Love it!
Ah, my birthday. After 50 I stopped keeping track but just to show all the athletes that I work with how goal setting works, I set a goal in February to lose 15 lbs by my birth date to get down to the lowest weight that I have been in over 30 years. An hour and a half workout everyday, including weights, 30 minutes of cardio, 350 sit-ups, a pretty strict diet - and 19 lbs later I did it. If I can, anyone can. Set those goals and go for it!
Busy time for all the A4A athletes with camps and showcases in full swing. We literally have athletes all over the US in the next few weeks visiting and attending college camps. If you did not know it, that's how high school athletes are getting recruited by the exposure of these events. We have had many athletes seen at these camps/showcases and soon thereafter offered. With that said though, it is very difficult to be "found" at these camps...coaches are watching athletes that they already know and that they already have a relationship with. The key is to create the relationships before attending.
A shout out to all who have ever referred us. We still do not advertise, all business comes from word of mouth, so thank you! As the number of athletes that we work with continues to rise there is no doubt that there is a huge need out there for A4A and our personalized one-on-one recruiting approach. There is a reason all of the 2014 senior A4A athletes that worked our process are going on to play there sport next year in college. Simply put, we care and go the extra mile for all of our athletes.
A reminder, if you have or know of any senior to be high school athletes that want to play their sport in college but have yet to do anything about their recruiting, the time to start was yesterday. The most common mistake that families make is to not do anything in the hope that coaches will come to you. That's just not the way it works anymore unless you have an ESPN top 100 athlete. Reality is start early and get ahead or start late and try to play catch up. Sophomores and juniors should start creating those "relationships" now.
Good week so far for A4A, one junior to be senior committed to the college of his choice and another athlete was just offered. Advocates for Athletes, Helping High School Athletes Realize Their Dream!
All the Best,
Steve
Steve Britschgi President 
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What We Do
Advocates for Athletes (A4A) is a local, hands-on consulting and coaching business created to help educate and guide student athletes and their families through the college recruiting process, with the ultimate goal of obtaining a college athletic scholarship and/or admittance to a school of their choice because of their sport.
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Where are the A4A Athletes
going to College?
Here is a partial list.
Colleges
The U.S. Naval Academy
Providence University
Princeton University(2)
UCLA (2)
Amherst
Tulane University
Loyola Marymount University(2)
Lewis and Clark University(2)
Dominican University(2)
Western State College of Colorado
U.C. Berkeley(2)
Texas Christian University
Brown University (2)
University of Utah
Cal Poly Pomona
Claremont Mudd Scripps
Georgetown University(2)
Carroll College
Tufts
Chaminade University
Kenyon College
U.C. Merced
U.C. Davis
Carnegie Mellon University(2)
Pomona Pitzer University(3)
Duquesne University
Southern Illinois University
Fresno State
University of Redlands (4)
Notre Dame De Namur University
University of San Diego
University of Colorado at Boulder
Colorado College(2)
Cal State East Bay University
Washington State University
Trinity College (Conn)
Leslie University
Willamette
Rochester Polytechnic Institute
Cal State Dominguez Hills
*Most recent school to add, Dennison University
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From the Desk of: Beatrice Schult
Westface College Planning
It's June!
Congratulations if you have a soon to be college freshmen. This summer will be a critical time to create your detailed college funding plan for the next four years. For many families, this will include some loans. The Bad News is that on July 1st, interest rates on federal student loans are set to rise. The Stafford loans will climb to 4.66% from 3.86 % and the PLUS loans will climb to 7.21% from 6.41%. Our newsletter
Featured Find lays out the details for each loan as well as other factors to consider when when taking out any loans in the near future.
If you are hoping to avoid some future loans for your younger students, this month's Senior Scoop (also a great scoop for Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen) highlights an extremely helpful program for students considering one of 154 qualifying colleges residing in the western United States: the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) Scholarship. Eligible students may receive tuition reductions of up to $13,000 per year. Check out the article for details and guidelines of the WUE program. Keep these WUE colleges in mind as you plan summer college visits... It's a can't-miss opportunity!
Summer is the perfect time to set the early stages of their college financial plan in motion. Reserve a seat at a workshop or webinar or give me a call when you are ready to take your next step on the path to creating a clear college funding plan.
All the best,
Beatrice Schultz, CFP�
Westface College Planning
College Funding Specialist
Beatrice Schultz, CFP� | College & Retirement Financial Planning
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From The NCAA:
A have to read. See what the NCAA is doing about the concussion problem with athletes.
NCAA, DoD Launch Concussion Study
$30 million alliance includes funding for largest study to date on concussion, novel educational approaches...read more
http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/ncaa-dod-launch-concussion-study?division=d1
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Recruiting Question
of The Month
What sets A4A apart from all other Recruiting companies, especially the national companies?
Well, first of all A4A is not a recruiting company. We are a consulting and coaching business that where's many more hats. We are also local so we know the lay-of-the-land. In my case, I work with mostly WCAL and WBAL athletes. Having grown up here in the Mid-Peninsula, I was a WCAL athlete, my wife and kids were WCAL athletes. I get it! Then take John Mylod our PAL guy, he grew up here, played ball at Sequoia and has been the voice of the PAL sports radio show for umpteen years. Same with Jeff Bermudez our South Bay coach, grew up here, played here and coached here. This is our turf, we want to help our local athletes.
Second, we are hands-on and work one-on-one with our athletes, actually driving to where they live to work with them. There is nothing like our personalized approach, getting to know our athletes setting goals with them, and creating relationships with them, much like we teach them to with college coaches.
And last but certainly not least, we care! We live here, we have a vested interest in seeing our athletes successful. And this is fun for us, we choose to do this...its not just a job, it's taking serious our goal to help everyone of the A4A athletes to find their best school fit.
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Testimonials
Hi Steve!
I just wanted to let you know what a wonderful fit UCLA has been for me! I absolutely love the campus, my swim team, and the education I am receiving. I am really happy to say that I am sure that I made the right choice in choosing this school. I am definitely looking forward to swimming my sophomore year too! Thanks again for all the help you gave me, I can truly say I would not be here if it wasn't for you.
Rachel Owen
Previous A4A Student Athlete
Graduated Spring, 2013
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Steve,
Thank you for all your guidance and help in assisting my son find his way on to a college campus with a ball in his and a scholarship in his bank account!!
Your attention to detail and your true desire to help him made the world of difference in his life. While Zayn is a smart, strong, quite young man who is silently confident your guidance and coaching helped him to openly and willingly be confident to speak highly of himself, sell himself, and take ownership of his achievements. These are enhanced skills he will take with him throughout the rest of his life.
Your willingness to meet him near his school and job and accommodate his very busy schedule was appreciated. Also your efforts of continuing to check in and make sure he was on track was one of the keys to his success.
Zayn achieved his dream of transferring to a university that would afford him the academic excellence he demanded as well as be a part of a system were he could be a key contributor.
I have to also thank you for all the talks you had with me and your prompt communication throughout the who process. I was often unsettled and concerned about his future and you never gave off a negative or discouraging message.
Your faith in Zayn and his abilities academically and athletically will never be taken for granted or forgotten.
I am envious of your position to help families and student athletes achieve their dreams because I know there is a demand for this. I am now your advocate! I will do anything I can to help you if you ever need it... and will recommend you to everyone I know going through "the process".
Wishing you continued success,
Susan Kirkendoll
Mother of Zayn, Carroll College, Fall 2013
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Dear Steve,
I am so grateful to you for giving our daughter Rachel the confidence to go after UCLA. She is going down for orientation this week and she is still thrilled with her choice. This last weekend at a swim competition, it was fun to share with another swim parent the value you added to the college search experience. Without your assistance, I don't believe we would have found the complete match in both school and team.
Thank you again,
Alicia Owen,
Mother of Rachel- UCLA, Fall 2013
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Steve:
Conner and I wanted to send you our hearty thank you's for all your help with Conner's college application/positioning, and more importantly, for the enormous role you played in the successful results he had in his process! As you know, he used this process to finalize his choice (he got into his first two; and decided not to apply to any more, with glee), to finalize the size/division of school to go to, to develop relationships with coaches at several division levels, and to narrow down his search to the school that really hit him in all the right places.
The steps you helped him through, as well as your personal involvement, were spot on. Conner may be one of the more stubborn humans on the planet, but he followed through really well on this. He succeeded in the early application process in getting great coach support (along with good grades and exceptional SAT's), and being completely done with the madness of college admissions at about the same time most of his friends were just starting with the frenzy. He is extremely excited about both school and baseball at Lewis & Clark. We recommend anyone thinking about college and athletics, at D1, D2, or D3 levels, to talk with you as we have an extremely high level of trust in you and in the process you took Conner through. It helped in a broader way than just the nightmare of the college application process, and as a parent I have huge appreciation for that.
All the best-I am happy to talk to any perspective clients about the good work you do.
Best, Bob
***************
"A4A was a godsend to our Student Athlete. Steve provided invaluable guidance on the recruiting process, advice throughout and the all-important ongoing check-ins with our son. We had no idea how long and how difficult the journey of getting recruited to a Division 1 football program would be. Steve and A4A helped us objectively evaluate our son's potential and match his goals to achievable results.
You definitely need an "Advocate" in your corner during the recruiting process - and they don't get any better than Steve and A4A. We can't thank you enough for being there for us day or night, and making it all happen. The end result of all of the hard work is that our son, Shane, committed to play Defensive End at the United States Naval Academy. We are all very happy with this result and highly recommend A4A!"
Steve and Tammy Artim
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"We wanted to take the time and let all of you know how grateful we are to have spent the past year working with A4A.
Steve, never would I have imagined that a word, "Process" would ring so true in regard to helping our daughter navigate the NCAA/Academic institutions.
As a result of A4A's extensive knowledge, patience and understanding, our daughter Lilly will be attending and swimming at a division one school in the fall of 2013!
Your knowledge and guidance created a low stress, less worry atmosphere in our household thus allowing our family to enjoy the college journey. The consistent support and advice you provided to our daughter along the way has made her more confident and smart about her choices. The experience has taught all of us that patience, persistence and following the "Process" pays off in the end.
Thank you for believing in our daughter and for providing such a valuable and knowledgeable service."
All the very best,
Robin and John Nelson
Redwood City, Ca
Parents of Lilly, Duquesne University, Fall 2013
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"Navigating the student athlete college recruiting path can be a daunting and confusing process. We were fortunate to have A4A's services to help with this process for our daughter who plays soccer. Steve was very professional and extremely flexible in working one-on-one directly with our daughter, while keeping us abreast of current activities. Steve was also extremely helpful in the final stages of discussions and negotiations with the top schools on our list. The process was ultimately successful in that we had several options available for our daughter to play soccer in college at both the Division I and Division II level. I would recommend A4A's services for anyone looking to get professional guidance and assistance with the recruiting and college selection process."
~John and Kim Miller
Parents of Lauren- Cal Poly Pomona, Fall 2013
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"Thank you for all your guidance and help throughout this process. We couldn't have done this without you!! "
~Karen Bruneman
Mother of Brooke- Lesley University, Fall 2013
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"Steve, I am a true believer in your program and in A4A and what you have done. If you remember we came to you late in the game. Bemi was a great athlete in football (All-Conference as a junior and senior) but had zero, I repeat zero, interest from any school. More importantly, he had no one helping him or telling him what he needed to do even
to have any colleges look at him.
You sat down with us over lunch, laid out a very simple game plan and then you pushed to execute it. From the basics on what to do with ensuring Bemi focus on improving his SAT scores, to making a highlight video and then mapping out the schools that fit a major that he wanted to do with his life. I was impressed by how much 1-1 time you committed to with Bemi, how you coached him on what to do, how to send the emails to the college coaches, how to talk to the coaches, and how to follow-up. More importantly, you stayed on top of everything. You have a "failure is not an option" attitude and its contagious. It is also clear to me that you really care and you work to ensure that the kids you take on are successful and get a chance at a scholarship and more importantly a future education.
As you know we just got back from a weekend trip to Western State College in Colorado where Bemi has received a scholarship offer to play football there. There is no doubt if anyone wants to go to college to be a student athlete, your program is the way to get them that visibility and a chance. I will be happy to recommend your program to anyone. Please send any doubters my way.
Thanks again for all your efforts".
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"When our son decided that he wanted to play sports in college, we weren't sure of how to go about getting information out to college coaches. After countless hours of searching and feeling overwhelmed by the whole process, we decided to seek help, and that is when we contacted Advocates for Athletes (A4A).
After our first session with A4A, we felt like a huge weight had been lifted. A4A gave us so much information that we would have never been able to obtain on our own. With the expert knowledge and information they provided, and the one-on-one help, it made the whole recruiting process a lot easier. A4A gave our son the confidence and tools not only to sell himself to college coaches, but a confidence that he will be able to use throughout his life.
Thanks to the great service they provide, our son has signed with a great college, and is looking forward to being a college athlete. I would recommend A4A to any high school student that is interested in playing sports at the next level. Working with A4A was one of the best things that our family has ever done."
~Mother of a former St. Francis High School football player recruited to University of San Diego who has since transferred to play at Colorado.
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"The A4A program has helped my son tremendously. My son has given a verbal commitment to Fresno State this past summer as a Junior, and has already taken an unofficial visit to the school.
The program that A4A customized for my son utilizing the Advocates for Athletes playbook has been a huge help during this crucial time in his life. If I could summarize the changes that I have noticed in his approach to everyday life, his time management would be number one. The A4A program has really helped him prioritize his day to day activities. I have noticed that he is "goal setting" much more than before and incorporating many of the strategies that Steve and my son worked on.
The program works and Steve's diligence and genuine caring for his student athletes is very apparent."
~Tom Paroubeck
Father of Jordan, the 69th pick of the San Diego Padres in the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.
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"I wanted to share with you our family's appreciation for the service that Advocates for Athletes has provided us. A year ago the task of selecting the right school for our daughter was overwhelming. Frankly, once we met with Steve and learned about the extensive research he had done on this issue and the process he had developed based on his findings we knew we made the right choice. An important side benefit in all of this is that our daughter has taken ownership in what will become her future. It has been a great lesson in learning for our family and his deliberate approach has taken much of the anxiety out of what is an otherwise difficult and complicated process. You can count us among the "advocates" for Advocates for Athletes."
~David Bartoshuk
Father of Megan Bartoshuk. Carnegie Mellon, Fall 2013
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Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to read our A4A Newsletter. If you have any questions or comments please contact us.
Please forward this Newsletter on to anyone you feel might be in need of our services or interested in the college recruiting process.
Sincerely,
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A4A Resource Partners
*The Riekes Center for Human Enhancement
*Michael Romano, "Mr. Test Prep"
*BAWSI, Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative
*Susan Zaro, LMFT, Sports Health Counseling
*QWERTY Education Services
Westface College Planning
Performance Hoops, John Folonis
The South Bay:
Extreme Fitness&Sports(Campbell)
Tutoring Club(Almaden,Cupertino,Los Gatos and Willow Glen)
For details and contact information on each of our Partners please visit our website @ www.advocates4athletes.com.
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