Frequently Asked Questions About Atlanta Sports Academy

Are Atlanta Sports Academy’s classes accredited and accepted by the NCAA Clearinghouse?

Yes. All classes offered through Atlanta Sports Academy via National High School are regionally and nationally accredited. The rigorous course work taken by the student athlete depends on the educational needs of the student athlete. All high school related courses are provided through our satellite school, National High School. College related courses are provided by Atlanta Metropolitan College, Georgia Military College, and Georgia Perimeter College, all part of the University System of Georgia.

National High School is accredited by CITA (Commission on International and Trans-regional Accreditation and SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools). If you need high school credits, please call Dona Mathews at National High School at (404) 547-0289.

Will my transcripts be sent to the NCAA Eligibility Center?

Yes. National High School is an approved NCAA core course provider.

How much does the program cost?

The total program cost is approximately $15,500. May vary with housing choice and in-state or out-of-state determination.

What is included in the program?

Housing, tuition, books, laptop computer, tutoring, ACT/SAT prep, chartered game transportation, pre-game meals, game uniforms, practice uniforms, equipment, speed, agility, and strength training.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. Financial aid is only available for student athletes on the junior college tract and the amount of aid will vary depending on the applicant’s demonstrated need. The student athlete and parents will be responsible for any unmet expenses. Please fill out your FAFSA as soon as possible! You will not be admitted to ASA without proof of your financial aid award.

Do you offer payment plans?

We currently offer a two pay plan. Other options are currently being considered.

AN ENROLLMENT CONTRACT AND PROMISSORY NOTE FOR

FULL YEAR ENROLLMENT IS REQUIRED.

Post-Graduate - First Semester (Two Payment Plans)
PLAN ONE	Full tuition payment.
	$15,500.00		Due August 1, 2010 (minus a $500.00 deposit)
			(minus $3,000 w/o housing)
PLAN TWO	Pay by semester.
	$10,500.00		Due August 1, 2010 (minus a $500.00 deposit)
	$5,000.00		Due November 1, 2010

When does the program start?

Student athletes will report in mid August and begin classes, study hall, and workouts. Practice will start 4-5 weeks after classes begin.

Do you have dormitories?

No. Students are housed in apartments near campus. It is the student’s and parent’s responsibility to secure housing. A list of complexes will be provided in the acceptance packet.

Is housing mandatory?

No. Many of our athletes elect to live at home, which reduces the cost of attendance by $3,000.

Is transportation provided?

No. Students are responsible for their own transportation. All facilities are a short walk from the Vine City Marta train station and several bus stops.

What do I need to bring to work out?

Cleats, work out apparel, transcripts, game film, proof of health insurance or sign waiver, registration fee, a great attitude, and willingness to work.

Can I complete my diploma if I dropped out of high school?

Yes. You will need to start ASAP if you want to complete your diploma and enroll in the fall. Call Dona Mathews at National High School at (404) 547-0289.

National High School has over 100 course offerings. E-teachers and the Virtual School guidance counselor are available year round to help you pick the courses that are right for you and your post graduation goals. We also have a Course Suggestion List with recommended classes. You will receive a well-rounded online high school education! Our curriculum is challenging, innovative, and aligned with national standards. At National High School, you will find the same classes that you find in traditional high schools. We provide a comprehensive set of high school classes online that cover core subjects, as well as additional areas of study.

Students awarded an accredited high school diploma must satisfactorily complete the minimum 24 credit requirements to graduate.

Academic Environment and Student Achievement:

• The National High School provides solidly-grounded courses, each and every one of which includes extensive professional-level readings supplemental to the assigned text or texts, and requires the assimilation and measurable application of large blocks of knowledge.
• Challenging assignments have been designed to promote strong critical thinking, analytical, and communicative skills. Each course has been developed and reviewed by multiple field experts, and is subject to regular revision, as the faculty, administration and National Advisory Council deem appropriate.
• In tandem with course syllabi and programmatic development, faculties of the highest caliber (nationally-recruited) select and approve the text or texts and readings for each course.
• Each course (general education courses, core courses, specialized field-specific courses) requires several critical reading/writing assignments (with emphasis on both content analysis and communicative skills), three essay exams, and one or two major research projects, plus a comprehensive final examination, with an approved proctor in place. The final examinations are notably challenging, as they require thorough assimilation of ALL course materials.
• Qualified faculty and significant learning resources are in place to facilitate and foster student success: that is the High School’s ultimate objective. At the same time, it befalls the student to produce work worthy of the diploma for which he or she is a candidate and such standards of excellence

Does Atlanta Sports Academy accept high school students?

Yes. In fact, our program is designed especially for athletically gifted individuals. Football players can enroll prior to entering 11^th grade. However, basketball and track athletes may enroll prior to entering 10^th grade. If you are a parent of a gifted athlete who feels as though the educational system does not meet your needs, give us a call today.

Why would I enroll my high school athlete in your athletic program?

Your student athlete would receive a college prep diploma. Classes are challenging, flexible, and self-paced. They have an opportunity to graduate high school early and begin taking accredited college classes. They will learn from and compete against the best.

How do I enroll in Atlanta Sports Academy?

Contact an ASA staff member via phone or email, mail or email your updated high school transcript, highlight video, and your best full game film to the staff member, attend a scheduled interest meeting, try-out, or combine. Complete our written application and submit it with a $25 application fee. Then, you will interview with a staff member. If accepted into the program, you will be invited to training camp. If you accept our invitation to training camp, you must pay a non-refundable $500 deposit by July 1^st. Final balances must be paid before reporting to training camp unless you are awarded financial aid.

Why should I choose Atlanta Sports Academy?

Atlanta Sports Academy offers the best opportunity to obtain an athletic scholarship and graduate college. Our academic programs are rigorous and our coaching staff is comprised of some of the brightest minds in your prospective sport. All of our coaches possess extensive professional and college playing experience. You will be living at or near home where parents and relatives can watch you play. Atlanta is a short drive from several major universities. We are a division of Fourth and Goal Ballers Inc, recruiting service. This means, you will get maximum exposure to major universities. You will have an opportunity to compete against major college talent. We believe that your success is our success and we are going to push you to the limit mentally and physically to insure that you are prepared for the next level. If you do not want to work hard and be a part of a special program, Atlanta Sports Academy is not the appropriate place. There is no other Post Graduate sports program in the country like Atlanta Sports Academy!

Fourth and Goal Ballers Recruiting Service to Market Atlanta Sports Academy Athletes to College Coaches

ATHLETIC RESUME:

Our college sports recruiting service can help you gain the scholarship you desire. More than 600 colleges offer sports scholarships at the intercollegiate level. Today's coaches do not have the time or money to find you; it is up to you to find the coaches. To get recruited, and win a college sports scholarships you MUST make yourself known to the college coaches. It does not matter how good you are if no one knows about you and your athletic ability. This comes by creating an athletic resume or profile. There are no SECRETS in the recruiting process. It is innovative marketing and plain hard work. We do for you exactly what you could do for yourself if you had the experience, expertise, and the time. We know what coaches are looking for and will build your resume accordingly.

We want to know all about you and your sporting ability before you make any commitment to our recruiting service. You can fill out our athletic questionnaire online from our Contact Page or you can download the forms and fax or email them to us. This information will help us build your scholarship resume. We will talk to you about your dreams and aspirations, and work hard to make them become a reality. We believe that your success is our success. Most importantly, we will provide an objective evaluation of your athletic ability.

Once your resume is finished you will be given the opportunity to read and amend it before it is sent to the individual colleges. We will then individually send your personalized resume to several hundred college coaches in your sport, giving you every possible recruitment opportunity.

PERSONAL WEBSITES:

Our mission is to promote high school athletes and assist them in gaining exposure to college coaches. We have endured the recruiting process first hand and we know how powerful a tool the internet can be in getting and athlete noticed. One key component of what we do is person web page creation. Your personal web page will be devoted to promoting the individual athlete while still making this service affordable.

We will use one of four website templates to upload both your academic and athletic information. Along with these, they may also upload numerous pictures and videos that will help establish an identity with college coaches. We decided to use High School Recruitment in response to the abundance of recruitment websites that require monthly service fees, few options to upload pictures and videos, and numerous advertisements that take away from the real objective of promoting the athlete. After we create your site, you can upload as many pictures as you like and you can update your stats as often as you like. You may become featured on the website’s homepage in order to help bring more attention to their profiles.

WE ALSO PROVIDE CUSTOM WEB DESIGN WITH FLASH MEDIA, DIGITAL EFFECTS, GRAPHICS, MEDIA AND MUSIC FOR THOSE THAT DESIRE THIS SERVICE.

HIGHLIGHT VIDEO:

In today’s age of recruiting, it is essential to have an excellent, well planned film to show college coaches. We have put together a video team of former coaches who know exactly what the college coaches want to see. Other services take little time to put together a film, thus hurting their prospects chances of a college coach watching more than a few plays. Our video team grades each play, its strengths and weaknesses, then finishing the film by putting it in a certain order designed to show different strengths and to minimize any weaknesses. We feel this process is unmatched and the results speak for themselves.

Videos produced by our video team for the Class of 2009 spawned offers for each of the 21 players in which they promoted to colleges across the country. Most of which had little to no interest from college.

Once the evaluation is complete the final product will include many extras such as Zooming in to focus on the player’s ability and slow motion of certain parts of a play that is meant to show a college coach one of the little things that is so important to coaches (example- use of hands…..field vision…backpedal…etc). The high quality video will individualize each player and show his or her strength in their most accomplished aspects of the game. Another advantage is that if and when a college coach asks for a full game film, we have the ability to give it to them in minutes.

Your high quality highlight video will be uploaded to YouTube for the world to see. We will upload your video to multiple recruiting web sites. Also, your video will be placed in our Locker Room, which is a site that can only be accessed for viewing by college coaches and recruiters.

RECRUITING:

After we create your resume and highlight video, we electronically send your athletic profile and video to over 800 colleges and 15,000 coaches. Next, we provide you the necessary tools to correspond with the college coaches of your choice. Then, we walk you through the recruiting process one step at a time by working with you with NCAA rules, recruiting rules, and letting you know the Do’s and Don’ts when communicating with college coaches to gain maximum results. At this time, we provide you with a recruiting handbook and a database of college coach emails for you to personally contact and update with you statistics and or achievements. After the college coaches receive your resume and video, it will be up to them to contact you. You will receive emails, phone calls, and recruiting questionnaires through the mail. YOU WILL FEEL LIKE A SUPERSTAR with the amount of attention you will be getting but don't let it all go to your head. You must remain focused on your task. At that time, it will be your responsibility talk to the coaches personally and decide which school and program best suits your academic and athletic skill set. This is the time that leverage becomes important!

We take pride in walking our student athletes throughout the entire process. We make sure that you have every possible opportunity to play on the next level. We have an excellent working relationship with athletes, parents, and college coaches. We are very proud of the service we provide and enjoy getting to know talented athletes and their families everyday. Remember that we were once in your same shoes and can identify with your dreams of playing a college sport. As we said from the beginning, the best way to dramatically improve your chances of being offered sports scholarships is to become known to the people that count THE COACHES. If they don't know you, they can not recruit you. It’s that simple.

PERSONAL TRAINING:

If it is your goal to play sports on the next level, you must train like they train on the next level. At Fourth and Goal Ballers, everyone trains like a professional. Whether you are a professional athlete seeking to perfect your game, a determined competitor looking for that extra edge, or an active student intent on achieving peak performance in any competitive or recreational sport, we can help. Our dedicated professional instructors can assist you in optimizing your athletic performance before, during, and after the season. Everyone from an athlete, including individuals who simply want to be in better physical condition. Fourth and Goal Ballers, Inc began with individual training. However we welcome teams, groups, and individuals to join our training programs. We also encourage inquiries from coaches and trainers interested in off-site group programs and instructional seminars.

WHY FOURTH AND GOAL BALLERS TRAINING?

Fourth and Goal Ballers training programs are designed not only to develop an athlete's physical potential, but to provide a fitness education that can empower an athlete for a lifetime. We start by maintaining a low instructor-to-student ratio in order to ensure the highest quality training for every athlete. Then, our instructors work with the athletes both individually and as a group to develop and maintain the proper technique for every exercise. In this way, athletes not only build strength and confidence, but gain knowledge that helps create the foundation of athletic success.

One of the unfortunate myths regarding the training of young athletes is the notion that resistance training is either unsafe or unhealthy for younger adolescent and pre-adolescent athletes. Even though, medical and scientific studies have proven that a properly managed resistance training program is safe and has no negative impact on epiphyseal (growth) plate development. In fact, young athletes who participate in a regular, well-supervised strength training program generally experience fewer and less severe injuries on the field than athletes who train improperly or not at all.

The myths surrounding young athletes and strength training are usually based on reports of injuries incurred in the course of training. However, such injuries are most often the result of poor technique. For this reason, Dr. Avery Faigenbaum, a leading researcher and practitioner in the field of youth fitness, states that Unsupervised youth resistance training programs at home or at school are not recommended under any circumstance because of the potential for serious injury. Indeed, the real danger facing most athletes is improper training and a lack of physical preparation.

Fourth and Goal Ballers training session follows a unique and carefully structured lesson plan that is designed to provide balanced development while maximizing results. Athletes work together yet progress at their own rate, gaining strength and knowledge that that not only helps them achieve their full potential in the sport of their choice, but invests them with fitness tools that will benefit them for a lifetime.

CALL US TODAY TO START YOUR TRAINING!

MENTORSHIP

First, Fourth and Goal Ballers, Inc seeks to equip young men to become lifelong servant leaders in their communities and in the world. We partner with families to pursue and nurture excellence in the spiritual, academic, physical, and social growth of our students. We strive to transform an athlete’s heart as well as his or her head.

We will assist your child in realizing his or her dream of playing college sports by placing him in an NCAA or NAIA qualified school. Our goal is to encourage them commit to their education. Fourth and Goal Ballers dedicated staff work toward realizing your son’s dreams by stressing self-discipline, hard work, and dedication to their goals. The impact of Fourth and Goal Ballers, Inc on athletes can be life defining, and our students, in turn, will graduate from college ready to impact others.

We were once college athletes. We understand the difficulties that student athletes face in transitioning from high school to college. We are always here to provide a listening ear and solutions or suggestions when needed.

Joe Hamilton: Former Heisman Trophy Runner Up to Coach Quarterbacks for Atlanta Sports Academy

Hamilton set Atlantic Coast Conference career records for total offense (10,640 yards), touchdown passes (65) and total touchdowns (83). He won numerous NCAA accolades, including the Davey O'Brien Award as a senior and he was a finalist for the 1999 Heisman Trophy in his senior year, finishing in second place behind Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne. In 2002, he was named as one of the 50 members of the ACC 50th Anniversary Football Team.

Due to his lack of prototypical height for an NFL quarterback, Hamilton fell to the 7th round of the 2000 NFL Draft before being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2002, the Buccaneers allocated Hamilton to NFL Europe, where he led the Frankfurt Galaxy to 5-2 record in 2002 before suffering a severe knee injury (torn ACL). He spent the entire 2002 NFL season on injured reserve and was released by the Buccaneers at the end of the season. He received a Super Bowl ring following the Buccaneers' victory in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Hamilton signed with the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators in 2004 and guided the team to a 9-5 record and the playoffs, despite suffering another knee injury and missing two and a half games.

He was then signed by the Indianapolis Colts in 2004, reuniting with former Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy, but only saw limited action in one game before being released during the season. He returned to the Orlando Predators where he was the starting quarterback through the 2006 season. He has a 32-15 record as the Predators' starter and led them to ArenaBowl XX in 2006, losing 69-61 to the Chicago Rush. With a win, Hamilton would have become the first player in history to own both a Super Bowl and Arena Bowl ring. In the 2006 off-season, he was released by the Orlando Predators.

Hamilton returned to school, and received his degree in History, Technology, and Society in August 2007.

Fred Baxter Set to Become First Head Coach at Atlanta Sports Academy

Fred Baxter, born in Brundidge Alabama, is a former NFL Tight End with a 12 year career span. He attended Pike County HS, where he led his team to the state championship his senior year. Off the field, he was the SGA President and graduated from the Advanced Program. Baxter attended Auburn University & was drafted by the New York Jets in the 5th round of the ’93 Draft. Baxter also played for the Bears and earned the coveted XXXVIII Super Bowl victory playing for the New England Patriots in the 2002-03 Season.

Fred started the Fred Baxter Foundation in 2000 to empower and support the at-risk youth, families below poverty levels and strongly supports various churches. He is extremely active in supporting various charities & communities nationwide. He and his wife Lisa, currently lives in NJ, where he works as a mentor for the Camden School System covering the S. Jersey and Delaware Valley areas. Baxter will serve as Head Football Coach and Offensive Coordinator. He will handle Wide Receivers and Tight Ends/H-Backs. Fred is the proud father of two children Brittany and Kellan.

The mission of Atlanta Sports Academy's Post-Graduate Sports Program is to place its student-athletes in an NCAA or NAIA college or university. The competition is tough because every player enrolled is trying to impress the college coaches. Students are assigned to academic classes based on their individual academic goals, their past performance, and the results of achievement tests administered upon arrival.

The program eliminates the need to travel hundreds of miles away from home to play junior college or prep sports. ASA offers three different tracts for our students athletes to pursue, Player Development, Prep, and Junior College.

Player Development Tract:

These student athletes are academically eligible to participate in NCAA or NAIA athletics, but desire an additional year of development. These players enroll at the local community colleges part time and play sports with Atlanta Sports Academy. As long as the students remain part time, this season of competition does not count against NCAA eligibility. Upon completion, these student athletes enroll in their prospective 4 year institutions with five years to play four.

Prep Tract:

These student athletes are academically ineligible to participate in NCAA or NAIA athletics. They lack qualifying ACT/SAT scores or need to replace one class to meet NCAA core and grade point average requirement. These students enroll in our online high school and focus on critical English and math SAT/ACT skills in their first post-high school year. Classes are carefully selected to develop core skills and to challenge students in preparation for their freshman year in college.

Students may work within NCAA guidelines to improve their Core Course GPA in addition to working to improve their SAT/ACT scores. Success in their post graduate courses also strengthens their high school transcript as they apply to the four year university of their choosing. After one semester, these student athletes enroll at their prospective 4 year university with five years to play four.

Junior College Tract:

These student athletes enroll at the local community colleges and play sports with Atlanta Sports Academy. These students must graduate from Community College and meet all NCAA requirements for non-qualifiers. These student athletes will use 2 years of their eligibility.

Through Fourth and Goal Ballers, Inc Recruiting Service, Atlanta Sports Academy possesses a database of every email address of every college coach in America. If the student athletes are good enough, they will leave the program with an athletic scholarship to continue their education.