Hello there, 

My name is Aleksei Petrov. I run Gamma Math Tutoring, which provides a holistic fast-track math tutoring program for great athletes who need academic guidance in order to secure eligibility and ultimately contribute to their team’s goals. 

I am honored to have the privilege of sharing 3 tips that can advise coaches and athletic risk management and compliance department members on how to best extend their wonderful athletic expertise into the classroom.

Disclaimer: I do not know each and every one of you personally, so if you are already incorporating one or more of these things for your amazing athletes, kudos to you!

Alright, here ya go:

`1) Encourage potential prospects to stay on top of it. The journey to eligibility starts in high school. The academic habits and foundations students build in high school carry on into their college career. As students start to select their desired school at which they want to let their talent shine, they start creating profiles on recruiting services such as NCSA, contacting coaches at universities, and attending sports camps at colleges.

When you get to know about incoming freshmen athletes and find those you want on your team, give them the guidelines and expectations of being here. Make sure that those athletes who you want to have do not let their athletic talent be restrained with poor academics.

2) Motivate those athletes to apply their sportsman work ethic and mentality in the classroom. Think about your players, the ones who make your team, your team. How did they get here in the first place? They had a kick-butt mentality, a sense of accountability, discipline to get up and train, and a passion for their sport. Not to mention they probably had rapport with their teammates and supported each other along the way. New habits are hard to form, but what if we can piggyback off of the existing ones and apply them in another area? Redirecting existing habits into new areas is much easier. The discipline, the teamwork, the accountability - it can all be applied in the classroom. Student-athletes can form study groups and keep each other accountable to reach their goals, which leads us into the next tip.

3) Ask your team to set holistic goals. Ah yes, the good ol' goal setting. As a coach or anyone who supports collegiate student-athletes, I am sure you are well versed in goal setting with your athletes. Goals come in various shapes and sizes; short-term, long-term, solo goals, team goals, mental goals, physical goals, and much more. When you as a supporter of your team set some athletic goals with them, you can have them include and write down various categories of goals, including academic and personal goals. Then, you can check in with them and see not only how they are doing in the athletic goals, but also the academic and personal ones. That way, the athletes will view you as a friend or mentor that they can come to for any issue, and make you more approachable, and thus strengthen the relationship and overall team culture. The academic goal setting from a coach adds an extra layer of accountability to keep students eligible to participate in that sport. 

Let us know what's on your mind, and if you like those suggestions and are going to incorporate them into your day-to-day training routine, we would love to hear your thoughts!

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