The Seven (7) "Plays" of THE STUDENT-ATHLETE PLAYBOOK!

The Seven (7) "Plays" of THE STUDENT-ATHLETE PLAYBOOK!
GOALS - FOCUS - EFFORT - FAMILY - ACADEMICS - CONSISTENCY - SACRIFICE - PERSEVERANCE - RESPECT - CHARACTER
The home of Student-Athlete Character Development, Positive Focus & Positive Mindset Training!

Sharing with & training student-athletes on how to develop positive & productive habits that create great character which allows great decisions to be made at the right time! This process is very important for student-athletes to learn in order to achieve their goals, and to have success in the classroom, sports & life!

The Student-Athlete Playbook (AMAZON BEST SELLER) is a very relevant social, emotional, learning, academic, college & career readiness resource with an accompanying Facilitator Guide & Student Journal (Workbook).
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THE STUDENT-ATHLETE PLAYBOOK VIDEO TRAILER - AMAZON BEST SELLER

Inmate Football Video (*See a great act of kindness!)

*Thoughts by: B. Brown

A lot of people get caught up in winning and winning only when it comes to sports, but the story below is a beautiful example of how there is a lot of great and loving people that care about young people and believe that everyone deserves to be loved!

Let's continue to teach our children great sportsmanship and how to treat other people in general.

Enjoy this awesome true story .......

Be sure to watch the video at the end.

There was an unusual high school football game played in Grapevine, Texas. The game was between Grapevine Faith Academy and the Gainesville State School. Faith is a Christian school and Gainesville State School is located within a maximum security correction facility.

Gainesville State School has 14 players. They play every game on the road. Their record was 0-8. They've only scored twice. Their 14 players are teenagers who have been convicted of crimes ranging from drugs to assault to robbery. Most had families who had disowned them. They wore outdated, used shoulder pads and helmets.

Faith Academy was 7-2. They had 70 players, 11 coaches, and the latest equipment.
Chris Hogan, the head coach at Faith Academy, knew the Gainesville team would have no fans and it would be no contest, so he thought, “What if half of our fans and half of our cheerleaders, for one night only, cheered for the other team?” He sent out an email to the faithful asking them to do just that. “Here’s the message I want you to send,” Hogan wrote. “You’re just as valuable as any other person on the planet.”

Some folks were confused and thought he was nuts. One player said, “Coach, why are we doing this?” Hogan said, “Imagine you don’t have a home life, no one to love you, no one pulling for you. Imagine that everyone pretty much had given up on you. Now, imagine what it would feel like and mean to you for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.”

The idea took root. On the night of the game, imagine the surprise of those 14 players when they took the field and there was a banner the cheerleaders had made for them to crash through. The visitors’ stands were full. The cheerleaders were leading cheers for them. The fans were calling them by their names. Isaiah, the quarterback-middle linebacker said, “I never in my life thought I would hear parents cheering to tackle and hit their kid. Most of the time, when we come out, people are afraid of us. You can see it in their eyes, but these people are yelling for us. They knew our names.”

Faith won the game, and after the game the teams gathered at the 50-yard line to pray. That’s when Isaiah, the teenage convict-quarterback surprised everybody and asked if he could pray. he prayed, “Lord, I don’t know what just happened so I don’t know how or who to say thank you to, but I never knew there were so many people in the world who cared about us.” On the way back to the bus, under guard, each one of the players was handed a burger, fries, a coke, candy, a Bible, and an encouraging letter from the players from Faith Academy.

What an incredible act of Christian witness and kindness and goodness that was. Proverbs 11:17 says, “Your own soul is nourished when you are kind.” Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good when it is in your power to act.”

Be kind to someone this week. Be kind to every person you meet. You might be amazed at what God will do with a simple act of kindness.

Click on this link to view the video

National Signing Day for High School Football Players!

By B. Brown

If you didn't know, today is National Signing Day for High School Football Players! The majority of the top players in the country signed their letters of intent today and it was hectic!

ESPNU started broadcasting live announcements and signings at 10:00 AM and the "Signing Show" lasted all day!

Today brought back memories of my high school days when I was being recruited by a lot of Division I-AA & Division II schools. I ended up signing with Presbyterian College (GO BLUEHOSE!!!) a Division II school at the time, but now they are Division I-AA (or that funny new designation).

It reminded me of one of my best friends, Andre Hastings, the number one wide receiver coming out of high school our senior year. I remember seeing Lou Holtz, Dennis Erickson, Bobby Bowden, Ray Goff and many others visiting Morrow High School to visit with Andre. It was beautiful and amazing! I also remember being followed around school by a Sports Illustrated writer and photographer that were doing a recruiting story on Andre. Andre ended up being honored as USA Today's Offensive Player of the Year! Trust me, he was one of the reasons I developed into an outstanding cornerback being only 5'8" and 146 lbs. coming out of high school. When you get to practice against the best day-in-and-day-out, hopefully you get better and I did, thanks be to God; and I ended up getting a scholarship too. God is great!

Andre went on to star at The University of Georgia and then a nine-year career in the NFL, but that is not going to be the outcome for the overwhelming amount of the young men that signed their letter of intent today. I would like to see all these young men get their degrees even if they do make it to the NFL and start understanding that they need to use football as a tool to receive a relatively free education and a better life in general.

Parents, congratulations to you for your support and love for your children. Continue to be there for them because they are starting over as the low man on the totem pole and have to earn respect and playing time all over again. There will be low times for them as freshmen, but with your love, they will make it through.

Once again, it's going down in the fall as College Football Season Kicks-Off! I can't wait, but if you are like me, visit your favorite school's website and see who will be repping your school for the next 3 - 4 years!

2011 Georgia Tech Signees

2011 UGA Signees

2011 Overall Signings