Guiding the College-Bound Athlete

The NCAA Recruiting Process

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 Monday, November 16th at Pope 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 his 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 3^rd 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.

Rick will present an hour-long seminar at 7:30 p.m. in the Pope HS auditorium. Interested participants are asked to come early, if possible, to receive a number of handouts and watch a POWERFUL pre-program video.

For information about Dynamite Sports, go to www.dynamitesports.com

 Below are some of the comments from local athletic administrators regarding this exceptional opportunity….

“….I attended the seminar put on by Rick Wire (Dynamite Sports) at North Cobb High School Thursday night and it was phenomenal. He had an hour session with the coaches/counselors from North Cobb and then an hour and a half with parents ( many brought their students with them). We probably had close to 300 in attendance. I talked to Paul Halo (AD at Marietta who had hosted the same event the night before) and he said the same thing. After the event Bucky and I had a stream of parents saying it was great and wishing it had been done years earlier. I would highly recommend your schools hosting or possibly pairing up with a neighbor school to host….. “-Steve Jones, CCSD Athletic Director

“I have had several positive responses from our coaches, parents, and student athletes after they attended last night’s seminar “Guiding the College-Bound Athlete. Our parents definitely have a greater understanding as to their role in the recruiting process. Rick Wire shared lessons learned from personal experiences when his son, Coy, was playing high school football and trying to earn a college scholarship.  The family was successful, as Coy earned a scholarship to Stanford and played for nine years in the NFL! The seminar information is useful and valuable to parents.  Topics include taking a realistic approach to the recruiting process as well as the parent’s role in promoting a student athlete.  Coy’s segment of the seminar addressed ways to separate yourself from other student athletes, goal-setting, and social media….  We had over 300 in attendance!”-Jack Wallner-Cherokee High School, AD

“Just wanted to take a minute to give you some information on the recent recruiting seminar by Dynamite Sports that we hosted at KMHS … Rick Wire and his team delivered a powerful REAL message about the recruiting process from top to bottom and following the program both our coaches and parents expressed how helpful the program was. I would highly recommend you give them a look…”-Don Baker-Kennesaw Mountain High School, AD

“Rick presented to our community… The feedback I have received thus far from parents, athletes and coaches has been great. All groups were so impressed on Rick’s level of knowledge on NCAA requirements and his plan to guide parents in the recruiting process. …. I hope that all the schools in Cobb get Rick out to educate and inspire their parents and coaches.”-Robert Horn, Kell High School, AD

“I hope your first week back has been a good one.  I just wanted to let you know that last night we hosted …Dynamite Sports to speak to our coaching staff and community.  He was engaging and passionate about making sure that student athletes and their parents know what to expect about the recruiting process.  He also spoke from experience as an athlete, and coach, about the realities of this process.  Our coaches found this to be informative and valuable. The members of the community that attended thanked me for hosting it.  If you haven’t had Darnell or Rick Wire come out to your school yet, you are missing out.”-Sherri Thoroughman, Hillgrove High School, AD

“Just wanted to give feedback to all of you on the success of the “Guiding the College-Bound Athlete” seminar conduct by Rick Wire at Dynamite Sports @ McEachern …First let me say the feedback from our parents after the seminar was unbelievably positive!! …Rick’s presentation of the message was from the heart, with passion and from a parent’s perspective which captured the attention of everyone from start to finish. His knowledge and what he himself experienced with his son Coy, I feel, really hit home with parents that are either in the middle of this process or about to begin. I would say the number one comment from parents after the seminar was “I had no idea of the information presented about the recruiting process”. Parents went out of their way to thank our school for giving them this opportunity to learn about this ever changing process and open their eyes to what they can to do to give their student/athlete a better chance to realize their dream.  Rick’s coaches segment was also well received by our staff. Great information well-presented and I feel certain they learned a few things they did not know. If you have not yet scheduled this at your school I highly recommend you do so. Your parents and athletes will appreciate it…”-Jimmy Dorsey, McEachern HS, AD