Courtesy of SPIRE Academy, a SwimSwam Accomplice.
“Now we have a full-time workers right here, whose sole job is to assist our student-athletes discover simply the appropriate college. They assist with the search itself, discovering the proper alternatives to hone in on from the huge array of selections on the market. They assist with athletic scholarships: no small factor, given the extremely arcane nature of that course of. They assist with grants and monetary help. They even assist student-athletes and their households fill out all the mandatory types. In brief, they’re there for each side of the planning, placement and recruiting course of. It’s precisely this sort of holistic consideration you may count on when you swim for SPIRE Academy.”
So says Thad Schultz, Director of Aquatics and Head Coach of Swimming at SPIRE. Schultz himself is not any stranger to the planning, placement and recruiting course of. He coached on the collegiate stage for greater than 10 years, together with at Penn State, Ohio State, and Clemson. Schultz got here to SPIRE in 2015, and in his time right here has helped ship quite a few student-athletes off to the nation’s high swimming faculties. Right here’s the shortlist:
Omar Sherif—At the moment a sophomore on the College of Minnesota, DI.
Yassen Eltaranisy—At the moment a sophomore at Grand Valley State, DII.
Andre McCloud—At the moment a senior at Kenyon Faculty, DIII.
Morgan Wagner—At the moment dedicated to Georgia Southern College, DI.
Chloe Mullens—At the moment dedicated to Indiana College, Indianapolis, DI.
Youseff Awad—At the moment dedicated to Grand Valley State, DII.
Arsenii Nikitin—At the moment dedicated to Grand Valley State, DII.
Most famously maybe, after having damaged report after report swimming for varsity and nation, Erkhes Enkthur of Mongolia lately dedicated to Virginia Tech. Erkhes’ dedication makes three swimmers in a row, together with Yasmine Abdel Nasser and Mia Corrado, who’ve moved on to VT Swimming after attending SPIRE.
Teaching swimming at among the nation’s greatest faculties undoubtedly has its perks for SPIRE student-athletes. As you may think about, Schultz has collected fairly a lot of college-coaching contacts through the years. These are sources he and his fellow coaches can faucet into for SPIRE swimmers as they put together to matriculate, however there’s extra to his years spent teaching on the collegiate stage than even that appreciable profit.
Schultz: “One thing we do right here—one thing not executed at different sports activities academies—is go to faculties. This 12 months we went to Ohio State. We met with coaches, talked in regards to the recruiting course of and talked about what they’re in search of of their swimmers. We additionally went to Kenyon Faculty, which is without doubt one of the high DIII swimming faculties within the nation, and did the identical factor. We would like our student-athletes to be as ready as they are often, so once they commit to a school and present up on campus it’s not a brand new expertise for them. At SPIRE, we put together our younger folks for next-level success in each side.”
Name it immersive preparation. It’s one of many advantages of attending a sports activities boarding college like SPIRE. Collegiate-level swimming will place calls for on the student-athlete effectively past the game itself, so SPIRE trains to such ranges in many alternative methods. For instance, each day schedules at SPIRE mimic these student-athletes will face in school, so when SPIRE swimmers matriculate they’re able to carry out bodily, psychologically and managerially. Once more, Schultz: “Our student-athletes are going to depart right here higher than they got here in, and never simply athletically. These student-athletes arrive right here as younger as 14, in order that they have lots of life abilities to be taught. They’re out of the blue going to have a roommate. They’re going to must do their very own laundry. They must be proactive about their schoolwork. And so forth. All of this may serve them effectively once they go off to school.”
The appreciable teaching skills and expertise of Coach Schultz and his crew apart, the school planning, placement and recruiting course of for SPIRE student-athletes begins in freshman 12 months (or whichever grade they arrive at) and doesn’t finish till they’ve dedicated to a program. This course of is all-encompassing: each trainer, administrator, and coach is mentally geared towards shifting student-athletes to the subsequent stage, as is each educational and athletic program and protocol they’ll encounter of their time right here.
“These younger folks aren’t on the collegiate stage but,” says Schultz, “We get that. Our job is to maneuver them alongside, step-by-step, to the subsequent vacation spot on their sports activities journey. Our boarding college program accomplishes precisely that, whether or not it’s through athletics, lecturers, serving to swimmers zero in on the appropriate program, or getting swimmers in entrance of the appropriate coach on the proper time. We don’t have an enormous crew right here, however each one among them desires to be nice. They’re all attempting to do the identical factor, striving collectively as a crew and individually, as particular person athletes. The 2 go hand in hand. It’s enjoyable, but it surely additionally raises the stakes for everybody. It’s part of the SPIRE school placement course of as a lot as anything.”
About SPIRE Academy
SPIRE Academy is a complete educational, athletic & private abilities, school & profession improvement boarding college positioned inside a world class occasion and wellness advanced. Constructed on 800+ acres and 850,000 sq. ft. below roof, SPIRE Academy encompasses 5 divisions: SPIRE Academy & Camps, an accredited school preparatory worldwide boarding college and multi-sport/specialty coaching and improvement academy for 9-12 graders and a put up grad program; SPIRE Leagues, Golf equipment & Skilled Groups, together with SPIRE Academy affiliated leagues and membership applications: SPIRE Occasions, a facility and crew that hosts native, nationwide and worldwide tournaments and occasions with the NCAA, the Massive East, Massive Ten and Atlantic 10 conferences, Olympic trials and world championship qualifiers; SPIRE Institute, the analysis and improvement arm, finding out efficiency enchancment throughout a number of disciplines by way of company affiliations and college relationships; and SPIRE Match, a group membership-based health, swim, private coaching and well being heart open to the general public. Sports activities at the moment featured on campus embody males’s and girls’s basketball, esports, lacrosse (males solely), soccer, swimming, observe and area, volleyball (girls solely), and wrestling.
