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The Extra Point
Monthly News and Notes from Play It Smart
December 2008
Volume II | Issue IV  |
Student-athletes at Armstrong (Richmond,VA) prepare a sign for their coat drive. |
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Happy Holidays! Another year is coming to a close. We hope that your holiday season is filled with joyous moments shared with your family and loved ones. We thank you for being a part of the Play It Smart family and giving so much of yourself to help student-athletes reach their goals in life.
Throughout this academic year and holiday season our schools have undertaken some impressive efforts in community service. Our schools have given so much of their time to make sure that lives of others are a little bit better this holiday season. Please have a look at what some of our schools have been doing:
http://www.playitsmart.org/news.php?id=1769.
Again Happy Holidays and we wish you and yours all the best.
-Len | |
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Mark Your Calendar:
December 26th
January 24th SAT
Registration Deadline
January 6th
February 7th ACT Registration Deadline
January 20th
January Play It Smart Student-Athlete of the Month Submissions Due
Remember to submit ACT/SAT scores directly to the NCAA Eligibility Center using code"9999"
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Remember if you don't tell us, we don't know. So keep us in the loop of your events and the happenings at your campus. Do this by communicating and submitting information to your Program Officer. |
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Student-Athletes of the Month
Click below view entire list of student-athletes for the month of November.
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No man stands as tall as when he stoops to help a crippled child. |
| National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
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Keeping the Dream Alive: College Affordability
College is a dream for many of our Play It Smart student-athletes and parents. In order for this dream to come true, student-athletes, parents, and academic coaches must work together. Costs and financial considerations should not deter student-athletes from realizing their dream of college, but the reality is it often does. Academic Coaches can help by educating themselves in addition to parents and student-athletes on the many different avenues to pursue when turning the challenge of college affordability into the reality of college attendance. With the current downturn in our nation's economy, it is more important than ever to pay strict attention to deadlines, act early, and be first when submitting paper work and forms. Please take the time to read the information and articles that follow.
Mike Scott, the Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid, at Texas Christian University has provided Play It Smart academic coaches with several avenues for college affordability in the following article: http://www.playitsmart.org/news.php?id=1763 |
Best Practices, For Academic Coaches By Academic Coaches
If you have logged into ORBIT lately and checked into the "Forms" section, you may have noticed the growing resources becoming available to you from fellow Academic Coaches. In addition to the Smart Skills resources, this is where you will find our Academic Coach Best Practices. The resource section is meant "For Academic Coaches by Academic Coaches." Please reach out to us and each other so we can continue to build this valuable tool. Play It Smart believes that there is nothing stronger than the expertise of the national network of our member schools!
Please check the section periodically as it continues to build. Our spotlight section features our Best Practice Presenters from the 2008 Annual Conference as well as submissions from the 2008-09 field.
In this month's Best Practices section, Academic Coaches from across the country share their knowledge and expertise on the subject of engaging their student-athletes and parents in the financial aid process. Thanks to Carlos Diaz, Barbara Paskin, Kyle Williams, and Dustin Butcher for sharing their insight. http://www.playitsmart.org/news.php?id=1770
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| Play It Smart 2008-2009 Academic Coach Demographics
At the heart of the Play It Smart program is the "Academic Coach", equal parts mentor, advocate, counselor, teacher, coach and friend. Play It Smart's academic coaches represent a diverse group of men and women dedicated to mentoring student-athletes. They possess a wealth of experience from a range of educational backgrounds.
The diversity and experience of our Academic Coaches combined with Play It Smart's formal training and professional development, strengthens the national peer network and allows the building of solid best practices and shared programming initiatives. The data presented below represents our nation's Academic Coaches for the 2008-09 school year. http://www.playitsmart.org/news.php?id=1754. |
| A note from Phil Camp, Head Football Coach, Milby High School(Houston, TX):
These are things that I have learned from others who have blessed my life:
You may not realize it, or even want to believe it, but you are living somebody's dream at this very moment. Think of all the people that can only dream about getting a college degree, have a stable job, work with kids, surrounded by people that care about them, getting paid a "decent" wage, walk, run, see, hear..................all that stuff that we take for granted. I can only assume that people who are unable to achieve or do these types of things can only dream about them. I can assure that there is someone out there at this very moment dreaming about becoming a head coach some day........some of you are living their dream. People that were unable to earn a college degree for one reason or another, we are living their dream. People right here in our community will spend the rest of their life dreaming about something we either take for granted or fail to see the value of. The late Christopher Reeves (Superman) spent the last years of his life dreaming about walking again. We are all living his dream. So keep that in mind when you work with each other and the kids your have been entrusted to coach and mold. There is sooooooooooooooooooooo much more we need to offer kids than just X's and O's. Teach life lessons............wins fade fast...........relationships are what last. Most students only get to dream about being a part of your team, so your players that are scoring the touchdowns, making the shots, hitting the homeruns are living out other kids dreams as well. Your players may not understand that, but they are doing something other kids only can dream about doing. It is a privilege that should not be taken lightly. I need to be reminded almost daily as to how lucky I am in life. I am blessed beyond measure and I plan to spend this week focusing on that and not the things that bring me down. |
All Star Game Rosters
With the high school football season complete, a few lucky student-athletes have been selected to extend their high school careers by participating in a number of All-Star games. A quick glance at the games, and the players who have earned roster spots:
Hawaii Prep Football Classic- Friday December 12th Honolulu, HI
Chris Henderson-DT (Carter/Dallas, TX) (Team Mainland)
Jordan Stepp-DT (Ben Davis/Indianapolis, IN) (Team Mainland)
Maryland Crab Bowl-Saturday December 29th Towson, MD 1 pm EST
David Mackall-LB/DE (Edmondson-Westside/Baltimore, MD) (Team Baltimore)
Carroll Washington-WR (Edmondson-Westside/Baltimore, MD) (Team Baltimore)
Under Armour All-American Game-Saturday January 4th Orlando, FL 8 pm EST ESPN
Nu'Keese Richardson-WR (Pahokee/Pahokee, FL) (Black Squad)
Darren Myles, Jr-S (Carver/Atlanta, GA) (Black squad)
Branden Smith-DB (Booker T. Washington/Atlanta, GA) (White Squad)
Darren Myles Sr- Head Football Coach at Carver will coach safeties for the black squad
U.S. Army All-American Bowl-January 3rd, San Antonio, TX 1 pm EST NBC
Michael Carter-CB (Blanche Ely/Pompano Beach, FL) (Team East)
Marcus Hall-DT (Glenville/Cleveland, OH) (Team East) | |
SuperBowl Champ delivers off the field
Roland Williams visited Career Academy (St. Louis, MO) bearing gifts for students who excelled in the classroom and in service to others. Williams, a SuperBowl champion with the St. Louis Rams, distributed Nike gloves to the student-athletes that participated in the "Feed the Children," community service project. For the student-athletes who earned 2.5 or better on their 1st quarter report card, Williams rewarded the athletes with a brand new pair of Nike shoes. In all 28 students received shoes for their outstanding report cards.
Williams addressed the athletes briefly highlighting the feeling of honor and accomplishment that athletes should possess when they work hard in the community and the classroom. He also touched on the importance of not only working in your community but learning something when working in your community.
Career Academy student-athletes pose with their gifts. | |
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State honors Play It Smart student-athlete
Brandon Walker (William Penn/York, PA) recieved The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania House of Representatives Citation for Outstanding Achievement. Walker was the Play It Smart National Student-Athlete of the Month for September. |
Houston Area Schools kick off Smart Skills workshops with Leadership Summits
Westbury and Madison wasted no time getting their Smart Skills workshops under way for their student-athletes. Each school hosted a leadership summit for their student-athlete and general student population. Each summit featured motivational speakers and an array of topics including: goal setting, etiquette, teamwork and decision making.
Each event brought leaders from the community to address student-athletes. The Academic Coaches at each campus (Tashi Hickman-Westbury and Yvonne Friday-Madison) hope that the events become an annual occurrence and that other schools begin to host similar events. |
| Lamar Starts Play It Smart Student Advisory Committee
Using the recommendations of the athletic coaches on his campus, Lamar (Houston, TX) Academic Coach Tommy Svatek created an advisory committee that consists of an athlete from each of the school's sports and faculty members from within the school.
The committee has a three-tier purpose: to provide peer support, community service, and faculty appreciation. | |
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Our mission is to help student-athletes take responsibility for their futures through lessons learned on the playing field, in the classroom and in service to others.
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If you're going to play...Play It Smart
Sincerely,
Play It Smart Staff
1-800-486-1865 | |
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