The road to college for athletes is no longer lined with traditional mile markers. It used to be that batting averages, points per game or yards per carry paved the way for sports stars. Nowadays, one more percentage is carrying more and more weight. It’s called the grade point average.
The days of athletes dreaming to “Be Like Mike” and parents’ dreams of having it pay for an education and a lucrative future for their child-student-athlete have vastly changed over the last generation or so. In fact, there is a lot more work to hitting a home run than just hitting home runs.
A seminar to prepare parents and athletes for the recruiting road ahead — complete with all its bumps — will be held on Thursday, Dec., 12, at Patrick County High School. “Guiding the College-Bound Athlete” will provide information and topics for every student-athlete in middle and high school and their parents to educate and prepare them for opportunities and careers after graduation. Many student-athletes who aspire to play at the college level are not familiar with the ins and outs of academic requirements and eligibility as they need to be in order to pursue their goals.
“Guiding the College-Bound Athlete,” a program designed by Rick Wire, President of Dynamite Sports, a Pennsylvania-based corporation, is the father of 9-year NFL veteran Coy Wire. This seminar will provide families with information about the availability of athletic scholarships and the realities of the college recruiting process.
According to a press release, Rick Wire found himself looking for answers when his then 8-year-old son, Coy, started talking about being a college football star. Wire hadn’t attended college himself and decided he had better start preparing for the future. He questioned other parents who had been through the process, looking for pros and cons and ways to prepare financially. In the end, his son Coy earned his scholarship to play football at Stanford University. Then in 2002, Coy was drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills where he played for 6 seasons and then finished his career for the past 3 seasons as a captain and player rep with the Atlanta Falcons.
Rick used his study to become a speaker and expert in college athletics and its recruiting process. Then he created the Dynamite Sports Educational Recruiting System, which combines academic preparation and athletic training with marketing and recruiting strategies to navigate through the process. The plan provides direction to high school athletes and parents, and staff development training and resources to high school coaches and counselors to help all parties make knowledgeable choices and decisions in college athletics and recruiting.
Dynamite Sports will present an hour-long seminar at 7:30 p.m. in the Patrick County High School Cafeteria. Interested participants are asked to come early, if possible, to receive a number of handouts and watch a POWERFUL pre-program video.
For information, visit www.dynamitesports.com.
