The ALA
Staff – “Hearts of Gold”
At Abundant Life Academy we really care our student athletes.
And, this is not a just flowery cliché or a false claim.
The Staff of ALA are called and committed to serving the student
athlete and to restore them to powerful lives. The depth of
our dedication to the student athlete is unmatched. The hard
work we are willing to invest comes from the heart. Good Godly
men dedicated to reaching and rising up kids who have fallen,
and to restore them to their destiny. At Abundant Life Academy
we want to use the student’s athletic abilities as a
leverage to restore the whole person. We teach self-discipline,
strength, vision, teamwork, and power for life.
 Abundant Life Academy is a Christian boarding school with
an excellent academic program. One of the most important goals
we have for every student athlete is academic restoration.
Essentially we take high school washouts and help them revive
their academic pursuits. Kids who have fallen behind academically
can catch up; improve their GPA, and even go as far as completing
high school (earning a high school diploma). Most of our students
graduate from high school and go onto college. This is our
first calling. The ALA Team (staff) is dedicated to see the
student athlete grow into life long learners, inspiring the
student athlete to go as far as he can academically. We use
athletics as a way to gain the key to a successful life in
America – the key is a college education. Additionally,
the ALA Team (staff) is dedicated to seeing each student invest
into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Our job is
to be a witness to the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, and
to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Students who go on
to college without Christ will not necessarily find victory
or success. Without Christ, there is nothing.
ALA Leadership - Know Yourself, Choose Yourself,
Give Yourself
Abundant Life Academy is also a powerful Christ-centered
Leadership Program. We teach our student athletes to be leaders
in life, and powerful teammates leading others to victory
in life. Instead of being victims, we lead our students to
be victors, leading themselves and others to their highest
potential. Our students learn all about themselves and others
in order to see their strengths and gifting’s, but also
to see their blindspots and weaknesses. We teach our students
to overcome adversity, to fight through setbacks, and to rid
them selves of the victim mentality. Our students learn all
about becoming overcomers, and to lead others to do the same.
The ALA Leadership Curriculum can be found at the highest
level of corporate America. We give the same leadership training
to our students that you would find in a Fortune 500 company
at the Executive Management level. The ALA Leadership Program
challenges the student to greatness.
ALA Leadership – Trust, Care, and Serve Others
Through the ALA Leadership Program the student athlete become
Emotionally Intelligent (EQ). EQ means the student athlete
becomes a young man who makes daily choices that are in his
best interest. Most kids make decisions that deliver the most
fun for the moment (they don’t see the immediate and
long term consequences of their poor choices). Unfortunately,
the important areas of their life (school, family, spiritual/emotional
growth) suffer. Our goal is to see the student athlete grow
into becoming awesome students, great athletes, a powerful
brother in Christ… but most importantly, to become a
son a parent can be proud of, a husband any good woman would
want to marry, and a dedicated Christ-centered father to his
sons and daughters. Emotionally Intelligence will help any
person to see the value in caring and serving others, to be
a good model for his friends and family, and a strong man
that his community can trust and lean on… to lead others
to a better and fuller life.
ALA Leadership - Generosity, Mastery, Independence,
and Belonging
At ALA we use a Positive Peer Culture and challenge each
student to rise up and to serve his brothers. We teach them
to be good teammates, to hold one-self and others accountable,
and to take responsibility for one’s own action. We
teach the student athlete how his choices affect everyone
around them, including his family. We teach students to live
through being generous, to master their vision, to gain independence,
and to belong to a cause that is greater than them selves.
To be great at anything a person has to weigh the cost and
be willing to make the investment. Greatness does not come
easily; it takes dedication, discipline, and hard work. One
must overcome adversity to sit a top of the winner’s
podium. It takes a team effort to win at life… a team
is a family, a community, and the body of Christ.
More importantly, we teach the student athlete to submit
willingly to authority, and to understand that those in life
who have authority, know authority. Those who rebel against
authority have no authority, and are oppressed. They have
nothing but loss and regret. In the athletic world (or anywhere
else) there are many levels of authority (rules, coaches,
team captains, referee’s, and umpires). When the ALA
student athlete learns to submit to authority, and submit
to the expectations of the team, they become powerful leaders
who exercise authority, and earn respect. Through earned respect
they gain the authority they crave, as well as self-confidence,
self-respect, and dignity.
Giving back, or investing in others is a trademark of Abundant
Life Academy. All too often young people only care about themselves.
They are so selfish and self-centered they would never dream
about investing their time, energy, or efforts into others.
These are the same kids who are unhappy, unmotivated, and
depressed. The truth is that the only way anyone can enjoy
life to the fullest is to invest into others. To give back
is the highest form of happiness. Those who dedicate themselves
to the service of others are whole and happy people. At ALA
we teach the student athlete to go beyond themselves and make
a significant impact in the lives of others.
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