An Open Letter To Athletic Directors...

This is a picture of our 3 kids standing at the exact place where the Wright Brothers first took flight. It takes guts to leap, based on a vision for something greater. The results when you do are just like the view from this point...#Breathtaking. Are you ready to leap?

You have a HUGE job, and a tremendous OPPORTUNITY.

#InTheClassroom
#OnTheField
#InTheCommunity

In the lives of your student-athletes.

My name is Brett W. Gould.
I am a motivational speaker and life coach.
I failed out of college as a young student-athlete, and now spend my professional life speaking into the lives of the next generation so they don't repeat the same mistakes.

Why am I contacting you?

• Because you have student-athletes who are struggling. They are skipping classes, failing tests, coming late to practice, and becoming the reason you are dealing with 2am phone calls, emails, and texts from University leadership asking why a particular student is in trouble. 
• You have student-athletes who aren't living up to expectations. When they were recruited it seemed like the perfect "fit". Now you are dealing with disengaged athletes, disgruntled parents, and frustrated coaching staffs.
• You have student-athletes that are on the verge of leaving. They are homesick. They don't like their classes. They aren't connecting with their professors. Their grades are slipping. Some are on the verge of ineligibility. Some already are. Others are frustrated with their lack of playing time. They went from hero in HS, to what feels like forgotten in College.

Their transition to college IS NOT going well.

I've been there as a student-athlete, and I know how to help others that are.

Here's my student-athlete story.

I failed out of college at 18.
I was in the top 20% of my HS class.
Athlete. Musician. Generally, hilarious and engaging in every circle I travelled in.
And then college hit, and hit hard.
I started skipping classes.
I drifted to anything that didn't hold me accountable.
I was living a nightmare, and no one really knew it.
I was scared.
I didn't like my classes.
I didn't know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
At the end of semester #1 I had a 1.85 GPA.
No one really addressed it.
Just a couple of months into semester #2, and it was over.
4 F's and an incomplete.
And a letter saying I had failed out.
I had just received a 0.0, and felt hopeless.
Done.
Luckily…I had a mentor that put his arms around my world and wouldn't let me quit.
I walked onto another campus, and they took me in…on the word of my mentor.
I had to fight.
I had limitations and expectations, for academic success, to stay there.
I couldn't play soccer, because I was ineligible.
I watched from the stands, knowing I was as good as any of the guys.
I pulled my grades up.
I walked-on the following fall…AND MADE THE TEAM.
I worked HARD.
The following year…I EARNED AN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP.
I posted a 4.0 during an in-season semester.
I began coaching soccer in a city school my senior year in college.
And I graduated CUM LAUDE.

That's a snap-shot of WHO I was as a college student. That was over 20 years ago. Since then I have had the honor of working with tons of high school and college students. I've coached everywhere from the U6 level to College and in between. I've built curriculum that helps athletics programs, coaches, and student-athletes discover WHO they are so they will know WHAT to do. It works. I've spoken in High School classrooms, an auditorium, and all over different settings on College campuses.

What am I asking of you?

To have a conversation with me, about being a resource for you.

How would we work together?

I would be a Mental Coaching resource for your administration, coaches and student-athletes. Not as a one hit talk, but as a long-term relationship. I have a specific process I follow, that is a huge win for administrators, coaches, and student-athletes. 
(You'll see a testimonial in a minute)

Can we be brutally honest?

You don’t have to.
Most of you, in fact, won’t.
And that's ok. 
I want to work with a handful of people that get it, and I am hoping that might be you.

The great leaders take chances others see as distractions.
There are two approaches for Athletics Programs.
Play catch up. (Because other programs saw the value in this, first)
Play "catch us if you can". (Because you took the lead by doing this, first)
 
If you aren’t sure which side of that fence you are on, look around. 

Are the people you lead looking tired or inspired?
Are their mental gas tanks on E, or are they coming in ramped up and ready?
 
At this point you have the perfect excuse to delete this email.
 
“Finances”. Except, it isn’t true.
​
There are always resources that can be found, for progress that needs to be made.

And…you are already spending the money.

Here's proof…does this sound familiar?
•    Student-Athlete retention is an issue. (That means lost $ to your College)
•    You, and other administrators, coaches, professors, etc…are having to meet with student-athletes who are having academic, athletic, or behavioral issues. (time = money)
•    You are having to meet with coaches to go over unmet expectations about the academic and behavioral requirements of their team not being met.

When you start to look at lost tuition, and multiply out the hours x the salary of those who've had to meet over these issues…you can see that it adds up quickly.

That is why I am saying that your University is already spending the money.
The thing is, no one is tracking it. 

It's happening…and you could be getting out in front of it.
 
Still reading? I’m looking forward to getting to know you and your teams better. You are the exact people I am looking forward to connecting with. You are the game-changers. The leaders.
 
Any speaker can show up once, say something clever, and “Drop The Mic” as they walk out the door. And once they do, it’ll rev up your engines for a few days…maybe even a week!
 
It takes a whole other kind of person, commitment, and vision…to develop a relationship with their audience. That happens over time, so that the impact is measured in sustainable life-change over years.
 
That’s the difference between hiring any speaker, and working with me. 

I don’t speak at you, I work with you.
 
Not short bursts of energy that fade.
Long-term momentum and sustainable progress.

Here's a testimonial you'll love from one of your colleagues in collegiate athletics:

"Brett was excellent! We are in the process of rebuilding our program and his help has been priceless. He is an ALL-IN type of person and that's what we needed."

-Kwame Oduro
Head Men's Soccer Coach
St. Bonaventure University 

Most of you are about a month out from your pre-season for 2016-2017.
If you would like to talk, I'd love to have the conversation.
No strings attached.
One phone call.
If there is a fit from there, we can talk specifics about how this will work with your University. If not, we've made a new friend. That's cool, too.

You made it.
And since you did, we should talk.

All The Best,

Brett

Brett W. Gould
716-672-9661
Contact@WHOBIX.com