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Foundation grooms football players for college

 
Carrollwood Day’s Willie Parker credits We Believe in Me for helping him with his SAT preparation and recruiting.
Carrollwood Day’s Willie Parker credits We Believe in Me for helping him with his SAT preparation and recruiting.
Published Jan. 8, 2015

Carrollwood Day School's Willie Parker is an explosive running back. Calvary Christian's Stephon Williams is a versatile playmaker on both sides of the ball.

Both were first-team all-state selections in their respective classifications (Parker in Class 2A, Williams in 3A) and were picked to play in Saturday's Blue-Grey All-American Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.

They also are bound in another way. Both are members of We Believe in Me, a non-profit foundation that helps high school players in Tampa Bay and across the nation with their training and studies.

"They did a lot for me as far as preparing me to take my SAT test and really just getting me mentally prepared for college and what the future has in store for me," Williams said. "And my recruiting process really picked up being with them."

Founded last year, We Believe in Me is the brainchild of Brenda McCarthy, a former high teacher who started out by helping Indian Rocks Christian standout athlete Damian King boost his grade-point average. The program has expanded to include more than 30 seniors in what will be the first graduating class, as well as more than 100 underclassmen in states as far away as North Carolina and Texas.

"It was just something I felt was needed," McCarthy said. "A lot of these kids can't afford tutoring or major recruiting services. Once we started and things really picked up, that was kind of the aha moment. I was talking to some board members (which includes former NFL players) not too long ago and wondering why we didn't start on something like this sooner."

The players in the program are offered a taste of college life before they walk on campus. They are introduced to academic counselors and tutors, and are taught time-management skills.

Players go through the rigors of year-round training with workouts held at parks and beaches to build speed and agility. Film is sent to colleges to raise their profile.

Their transcripts also are scoured over to make sure they are taking the proper courses to meet NCAA requirements. The requirement for being a part of the program is acting as a mentor to others and volunteering with community service.

Besides Parker and Williams, three other area players in the program — Palm Harbor University's Stephen Charron and Indian Rocks Christian's Jake Ellis and Chris Licea — were also selected to play in the Blue-Gray game, in part because of film sent out by the foundation.

"We Believe in Me helped teach me about the game along with techniques that would help and got me exposure to more colleges," Charron said.

The program also has a mentoring program for the players who want to learn about a specific field before deciding on a college major. For example, Parker wants to focus on personal finance. This week, he was able to spend two hours with Randy Pattison of Bellair Wealth Management.

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"We Believe in Me helped me discover my true purpose in life and also that giving back makes a big difference and take a kid a long way," Parker said.