The program
The Next Generation Access program supports promising young student-athletes and helps break down barriers to high-level sport, such as financial constraints, academic challenges, or even geographic distance. The Aléo Foundation's goal is to recognize and celebrate talent, encourage perseverance, and offer support services to face the challenges of balancing sports and academics.
Grand Goal :
Expand access to elite sports for young people who do not always have the resources to do so.
Detailed objectives :
- Grant access to high-level sports for the most promising student-athletes of the new generation (through scholarships, payment of registration fees, Quebec team or identification camps) who typically do not have access to these programs due to a lack of resources.;
- Encourage academic perseverance so that targeted student-athletes graduate from high school while developing their athletic skills.;
- Support student-athletes in their academic and athletic choices.;
- Support student-athletes in their overall development by offering: personalized academic advising, resume building and mock interview assistance, networking opportunities with key partners, a mentorship program, communications support, and shadowing or paid internships.
The importance of the program
Context
In Quebec, there is a category of young athletes who are too often in the shadows.
These young athletes, often gifted athletically, do not always have the resources and support necessary to maximize their potential. Their precarious personal or family financial situation is commonly a significant obstacle, not only to the development of their athletic skills but also to their efforts to avoid dropping out of school. Access to high-level sports allows for positive channeling of the energy of this same vulnerable clientele and for their engagement with the educational system by offering them opportunities, a sense of belonging, and pride in representing their institution, province, or region.
Our vision for the program
When multiple barriers stand in their way, whether financial or in terms of support, the person going through it may be led to make default choices, choices that can have a negative impact on their future. Some reluctantly leave school, expressing anxiety about their future. Others leave their sport, believing they were still capable of achieving great things, to prioritize academics, stuck having to choose between one or the other.
Having access to a support system is therefore essential for student-athletes to flourish and reach their academic and athletic ambitions. It is in this spirit that the Aléo Foundation offers financial support, as well as mentoring services, to all its scholarship recipients, from the emergence of their talent. The combination of scholarships and lifelong services is designed to provide the momentum needed to reach the highest peaks.
Propelling athletes beyond sport also allows young people to project themselves further, thanks to the skills learned in sports, thus giving them the wings to become our leaders of tomorrow.