A former professional athlete turned Christian evangelist plans to establish an all-male high-school-level private academy in Kernersville designed to provide promising young athletes with focused training in both sports and academics. The goal will be to turn out graduates who go on to become positive athletic role models.
Gary Newell, who played wide receiver at East Carolina University under Coach Pat Dye in the 1970s and later spent time with the Los Angeles Rams, has a 15-acre site near Interstate 40 and NC 66 under contract and is on the way toward raising the approximately $50 million it would take to launch the Veritas Sports Academy.
The ultimate plan, according to Newell, is to establish a network of tuition-free nonprofit schools in eight cities across the Southeast that can help inner-city youth make the most of their talent, and become positive influences in environments that are often tarnished by questionable behavior.
"We realize that athletics, that athletes, are big influencers in society, whether on campus or in the media or elsewhere," Newell said. "Our goal is to put young men of character in those positions so they can make a difference."
The day school will have room for 130 students in grades nine through 12 who will attend traditional academic classes and receive Bible-centered character education for part of the day, and then spend the rest of the day training in football, basketball, baseball, golf or wrestling.
Student slots will be allocated by sport -- football will get the most, with room for about 40 students -- with about 20 spaces set aside for nonathletes interested in pursuing team management or sports medicine.
Candidates will have to qualify both academically and athletically. The as-yet-unnamed coaches of each of the school's five teams will evaluate applicants to the school personally, and candidates will have to demonstrate the potential for academic success, though remedial tutoring will be available and required for those in need of it.
Newell declined to identify the eight cities the nonprofit Veritas Sports Academy Inc. has in mind for expansion. However, organizers expect to move quickly, with the groundwork being laid for the next two or three schools by the time of the planned opening of the Kernersville school next fall. Each would require about 80 acres of space for training facilities and stadiums.
There isn't that much space available around the planned Kernersville location, so the school will make use of existing facilities elsewhere. At some point that campus may move to a larger location in the Triad, with the Kernersville site becoming a central headquarters for the whole group of schools, according to Terry Moffitt, a High Point-based educational consultant who will become the school's superintendent.
Star backing
Newell, who also runs an evangelical group called Outreach America that he founded in Greensboro in 1984, has some star power behind him as he works to secure enough donations to launch Veritas in time for classes to begin next fall.
The advisory board for the Veritas project includes 2005 NFL MVP Shaun Alexander, who plays for the Seattle Seahawks; former Wake Forest University and current Carolina Panthers wide receiver Ricky Proehl; and, Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy, as well as noted Christian evangelist Josh McDowell.
Moffitt, who served as principal at Wesleyan Christian Academy in High Point, the Triad's largest private K-12 institution, from 1987 to 1995, said he and Newell have been studying the idea for a sports-centered Christian academy for about three years.
"I needed to take a look at how much interest there was in the business community, and also among foundations and philanthropists, and Gary needed to talk with the pro athletes to see if they saw the same need he did," Moffitt said.
Moffitt said that so far the school has donation commitments that would cover about half of the expected $15 million to $20 million construction cost for the first campus. Fully endowing the school so that no students will have to pay tuition would probably require about $30 million more.
While that money has not yet been secured, he said organizers are in negotiations with "a very well known philanthropist" who is considering providing all the necessary remaining funding.
Potential pitfalls
DeLores "Dee" Todd, director of athletics at N.C. A&T University in Greensboro, was not familiar with the plans for Veritas but does know Moffitt from Wesleyan Christian Academy, where her own son was a student.
She said a sports-centered private school for high-school students is a "great idea" because it might provide the discipline and focus that many athletics-oriented kids can only get from expensive boarding schools.
She also noted some potential challenges. Todd said the decision to make the school all-male is "unusual" given the rise of women's collegiate athletics, and she was skeptical that a strict high-school environment will necessarily lead to better behavior among the athletes who take part.
Todd believes most athletes are already well-disciplined, and the few who draw media attention through their behavior may not be the type who would respond to that kind of strict setting.
"You stand a chance, whether they're coming out of a very structured school or one that is less-structured, of getting (a student athlete) who's just a knucklehead," Todd said. "That will happen anywhere."
From an organizational standpoint, Todd said the school will have to pay careful attention to its curriculum to make sure it meets the academic standards of the NCAA colleges its students will want to attend. She also thinks Veritas may run into difficulty finding opponents to play if it succeeds in attracting a high percentage of the best available high school athletes.
"Why would I want to play against you when you've got all the best players?" Todd said. "That could be a big problem."
Boys only, for now
Newell said he wanted to start with an all-male environment because that's where his experience lies, but he said the schools may become coeducational in the future.
Moffitt said Veritas won't be a part of any particular league or conference and will play against opponents from around the region, which will likely mean a lot of student travel, particularly for the football team.
He said the school plans to make use of the latest available educational technology to make sure that classroom work doesn't suffer while students are on the road. The plans to quickly replicate the Kernersville campus will also provide ready-made opponents throughout the region.
The school will be accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Moffitt said, and the curriculum will exceed all necessary standards.
While there are no guarantees about how any one student will respond to the Veritas environment, Moffitt said he believes the discipline and Christian-based education will be a benefit. It will also help star athletes to be surrounded by other stars, he added.
"A lot of times athletes get away with a lot just because they're athletes," Moffitt said. "In this environment, everyone will be in the same boat."