Former NFL athletes Gio Carmazzi and Alex Van Dyke returned for year two of the Game Plan Academy camp Sunday. Offered to high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors in the Sacramento area, the camp combines football and academics with the goal of translating hard work on the field into classrooms off the field. Most of the approximately 10 staff - student athletes themselves - grew up in Sacramento attending Jesuit High School, including former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Gio Carmazzi. While Carmazzi did not have wild expectations for the first season, he said he was pleasantly surprised at the outcome so far. "The three returning quarterbacks from last year, they're doing so well

"Tweet!" Coach Alex Van Dyke, a former NFL wide-receiver and All-American at the University of Nevada, Reno and the operating owner of AVD's Going Vertical!, blows his whistle (Alex loves his whistle!) to rally the Game Plan Academy (GPA) student-athletes to huddle up. "GPA on three. One. Two. Three. GPA!" Coach Gio Carmazzi, a former NFL quarterback and National Scholar-Athlete at Hofstra University, leads the weekly GPA huddle cheer to conclude the football session during week four of eight this past Sunday, marking the half-way point of GPA. "Half-time!" Energy, enthusiasm, and excitement levels were high this past Sunday at GPA as student-athletes relished their opportunity to tra

Game Plan Academy (GPA) is awesome: the students are awesome (they represent Monterey Trail, Hiram Johnson, Rosemont, Highlands, Burbank, McClatchy, Rio Linda, Sheldon, and Florin High Schools), the facility is awesome (Hiram Johnson High School), the mentorship team is awesome (see www.GamePlanAcademy.com), the guest speakers are awesome (they include Mayor Kevin Johnson and Marty McNeal, to name a few), the sponsors are awesome (they include the Positive Coaching Alliance and Wells Fargo), the concept is awesome (the goal is to develop well-rounded student-athletes), and the camp is going awesomely (come out this Sunday from 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM to see the program in action)! With so much

On Sunday, March 15th, Game Plan Academy (GPA) launched at Hiram Johnson High School. Thanks to the generous sponsorships from Positive Coaching Alliance (www.positivecoach.org), Wells Fargo, and Avanti Restaurant Solutions, what was five months ago a clear vision with a windy path ahead, is now printed logo-wear, yard-markers, test-prep materials, and a group of forty student-athletes working to improve their performances on the field and in the classroom. A local, grassroots initiative, GPA attempts to equip students with a "game plan" for life. Spanning eight Sundays, students receive structured SAT preparation, focused college counseling, and rigorous athletic training. Working with

Social challenges abound in Sacramento: homelessness, health disparities, hunger, and educational achievement gaps. Tackling these challenges effectively requires creativity and collaboration: Sacramento needs local social innovation by dynamic community members. Of course, solving these challenges seems daunting, perhaps overwhelming. But, from the bottom-up, with some energy and effort, small local actions by many community members (Sacramentans) can produce a critical mass of support capable of making positive impacts in people's lives. Game Plan Academy (GPA) is one such project. Yes, Game Plan Academy (GPA) will not, on its own, reverse the widening academic achievement gaps betwee