FeedsAccelerators build athletes, students
The Michigan Accelerators, based in Wayne County, helps student athletes realize their potential.
A profile of a typical Accelerator is great student and dedicated athlete.
Coach Francis McCauley said he and the rest of the coaches are active in helping the kids go to the college they want.
“First, we find out where they want to go to school. Then we work with them and make sure their ACT’s and FAFSA forms are done,” McCauley said, “Then we send lists of their times and meet results to some coaches. Sometimes the coaches will even request films of a kid and we’ll send that to them.”
The Accelerators roster is very diverse. With about 80 teenagers on the team, they come from all over Wayne County.
“We got kids from Belleville to Trenton to Plymouth,” McCauley said.
Some of the key runners on this year’s Accelerators roster are high school seniors John Budson, Scott Sansovich, Brendan Curran, Melissa Grossly, and Noel Bradley.
“They are all excellent students, with 3.4 GPAs and above,” McCauley said.
Coach James Hall said education is a very important part of being an Accelerator.
“We want to see transcripts. We want to know where they are academically before we help them athletically,” Hall said.
Hall said the coaches are not the only people involved in helping these kids achieve their goals and get to college.
“Our mission statement is ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’” Hall said. “Parents really make the sacrifice to get their kids there.”
Darryl White, a former Accelerator, is headed to University of Texas at San Antonio next year on a full ride track scholarship. White plans to take on a double major in Education and Criminology.
“I wanted to go south so that I could train outdoors all year round and I thought the [UTSA] track program was good,” White said of his school choice.
“The kids make it easy on us,” McCauley said. “With such good grades and athletic talent, colleges really want these kids.”
White wasn’t any different. According to McCauley, White was a great student and his athletic talent spoke for itself. He’s a Nike All-American.
White and his former Accelerator teammate, Varick Tucker, are High School State Champions in the 100-meter dash and 400-meter dash respectively.
Tucker, a former Belleville track star, is off to University of Tennessee on a full ride track scholarship. Tucker is majoring in engineering next fall.
The Accelerators practice four days a week in July and August; from 5-7 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The Accelerators compete in the USATF and AAU National Championships and sometimes go to the Nike National Championships. For more information visit their website www.michaccelerators.org.
