Before I begin this months dialogue, a special mention to my wife of 26 years, Happy Anniversary Kathleen! She has been by my side through thick and thin, a great mom..in attendance for every game our sons played (hundreds!), my best friend, a wonderful, compassionate person and my personal A4A cheerleader. Would not be here without her!
I have the opportunity to work with so many great student athletes, and I don't necessarily mean great in their sport, but great kids with impeccable character. Like the saying at the top of the page, "not waiting but creating", I would be remiss if I did not mention two very special senior A4A athletes, both personify the word WINNER and both are versed in not waiting for opportunities but creating them.
The first is St. Francis senior Riley Quinn, he has been getting a lot of press lately so you may have heard or seen his story. But in a nutshell Riley was born with only one hand and that has been his driving force since he was a kid. You see Riley loves competition and has the heart of a lion. He has overcome all to have the most positive attitude I have ever witnessed. And he is flat out one of the nicest young men you will ever meet. A three-sport varsity athlete (football, baseball and basketball) with a GPA of 4.3, Riley will definitely be moving on to play football at the collegiate level next year. He has been accepted and offered a spot at MIT, one of the most prestigious colleges in the country and was also offered at the University of San Diego amongst others. Wherever Riley decides to attend it will be a huge win for that school. It has been humbling and a pleasure to work with you Riley...Congratulations!
The next athlete to mention is the most decorated football player A4A has had to this point - All-Amerian, All-State, and Player-of-the-Year. Anyone that follows Bay Area football has heard the name Ben Burr-Kirven, a senior linebacker/running back who led little (600 attendance) Sacred Heart Prep to a perfect record this year and a CCS Open Division Championship....Unthinkable!! I knew when I first met Ben he was wired different than most. Intense as a sophomore, totally focused on his goal - DI football. Well that goal was met and then some. With more than 10 college football offers, Ben decided to take his talents to the University of Washington next year...the first DI scholarship football player in his high school's history. Not only is Ben a great talent, but a scholar athlete and a great young man. He works his tail off in the classroom as well as on the field and in the gym. Congratulations Ben, it has been awesome working with you!
And these are just two of of the more than 100 athletes that A4A is currently working with. Everyone has a story and that is what makes this so fun. Good kids, good athletes with Character, Work Ethic, Skills and Desire...that's what it takes!
We are helping so many and having a blast doing it.....and our alumni is getting stronger and stronger, now athletes in over 80 different colleges and universities. Thank you to those that have passed on the A4A name as we do not advertise, all of our clients come through referrals.
Happy Holidays!
Steve
Steve Britschgi President Advocates for Athletes, LLC 650-255-0766 www.advocates4athletes.com
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.
Practicing in your house is akin to singing in the shower. There is no guarantee that your performance level will stay the same under less than idea conditions.
Students must practice the test in group testing situations to acclimate to the challenges a group presents : Foot tapping , gum chewing chewing, sneezing, someone you can't stand sitting next to you. all it takes to mitigate the impact of these distractions is some practice in a group environment. Don't rely solely on in-home practice . Doing so increases the likelihood you will be ill prepared on test day.
According to the latest Graduation Success Rate, 84 percent of Division I student-athletes who entered college in 2007 graduated - the highest rate ever. Division I student-athletes continue to outperform their peers in the general student body, when compared using the federal graduation rate.
More student-athletes than ever are earning degrees at Division I schools. The most recent Graduation Success Rate data, collected for student-athletes who entered college in 2007, show 84 percent graduated within six years.
The rate is up 2 percentage points from the class that entered in 2006 and includes gains in virtually every demographic.
"Supporting student-athlete success in the classroom is at the heart of our Association, and today's announcement shows progress toward that goal that is nothing short of remarkable," NCAA President Mark Emmert said. "We are delighted to see a record percentage of student-athletes achieve graduation, the ultimate goal of entering college."
Football student-athletes in the Football Bowl Subdivision graduated at a 75 percent rate, a 4 percentage point increase. African-American Football Bowl Subdivision student-athletes increased their GSR four points. The overall FBS rate represents an all-time high for the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Among student-athletes in men's basketball and football, those who entered in 2007 increased their GSR over those who entered in 2006. Those who participate in men's basketball raised their GSR from 73 to 74 percent, and student-athletes who compete in football at a Football Championship Subdivision school graduated at a 72 percent rate, nearly a three-point increase over the previous year's entering class.
GSRs increased 3 percent among white male student-athletes and African-American student-athletes of both genders. White female student-athletes earned a 93 percent GSR, up two points from last year.
Since the NCAA began tracking GSR with the class of student-athletes who entered in 1995, the overall rate has increased 10 percentage points, which translates to nearly 14,000 more graduates than if the rate had stayed the same. In that same time period, academic standards for Division I student-athletes improved multiple times, with increases in initial eligibility standards, progress-toward-degree standards and the creation of the Academic Progress Rate, a more real-time mechanism to track a student-athlete's academic success.
From the Desk of: Beatrice Schultz:
Westface College Planning
It's December!
Before taking that first winter sleigh ride, set aside some time this month to review your college financial plan. If you have a senior, it's time to prepare for the FAFSA, which will be available in less than a month. If you have a junior, only a few weeks remain to clean up your finances and make the 2015 "base" year look as good as possible.
The new "Ivory Tower" documentary addressing the higher education crisis is out now and well worth watching. This month's Featured Find is written by Andrew Rossi, the documentary film maker. He shares statistics that argue college is worth the cost despite the heavily publicized--and perhaps blown out of proportion--student loan debt situation. As quoted from Anthony Carnevale of the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, "The only thing worse than going to college is not going to college."
Is your student's college goal set, and they live and breathe school sports? This month's Senior Scoop is specially tailored for them. We map out key steps for your athlete to target sports-oriented scholarships and point out fantastic resources.
We are excited to announce that Westface College Planning is growing. We have moved upstairs to a new, bigger office suite in the same building at 990 Industrial Rd. Give us a call to schedule a meeting or sign up for a workshop
to take your next step on the path to creating a clear college funding plan.
Thank you for your business and referrals in 2014.
Financial Planning and Investment Advisory Services are available through separate agreement with Westface Financial Advisory
Testimonials
Hi Steve!
Just wanted to say hi and thank you again for all your help! I have been at Carnegie Mellon for two weeks now and today was our season opener. Check it out at http://athletics.cmu.edu/sports/wsoc/2014-15/releases/20140829hpgpi0. It has also been great to play with Megan Bartoshuk again - she is the one that referred me to you! Anyway, I really believe this is a fantastic fit for me, for school and for soccer, and I really appreciate your process that brought me here.
Hope all is well, Sienna Stritter
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.
"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.
"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
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.
