June 12, 2006

Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University assistant football coach KiJuan Ware was selected to participate in the 2006 NCAA Men's Football Coaching Academy in Indiana. The program is slated for June 11-13 at The Westin Indianapolis.

The NCAA Men's Coaches Academy is administered by the NCAA with support from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Black Coaches Association (BCA) and the National Football League (NFL). The academy is designed to address the lack of ethnic minorities in the football coaching ranks. The mission of the NCAA Men's Coaches Academy is to assist ethnic minority coaches with career advancement through skills enhancement, networking and exposure opportunities and to raise awareness regarding the substantial pool of talented ethnic minority coaches. To be selected, a candidate must be an ethnic minority with at least four years of coaching experience.

"It's a tremendous honor and I'm really excited for the opportunity," Ware said. "It's a chance for me to learn more about what it takes to become a head coach and to meet with other people from throughout the country."

The three-day academy - themed "Assisting Diverse Leaders with Achieving Coaching Excellence" - focuses on different facets needed to become a head coach. It specifically challenges candidates with increasing the understanding and application of skills needed to become a head coach and increasing the understanding and awareness of competencies necessary for success in head coaching at the collegiate level.

The program also aims to introduce ethnic minority coaches to high-level coaches and administrators through a mentoring program, to raise the public awareness of candidates and to promote the coaching profession to student-athletes, graduate assistants and others.

"I'm really happy for KiJuan personally and we are proud to have him represent Georgetown University and our program," Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Kelly said. "He's been a tremendous addition to our staff and I think he's one of the rising stars in the coaching ranks. An experience like this will be an incredible experience for him."

Ware will be participating in the Advanced Coaching Program, which is typically held prior to the AFCA Convention. The sessions focus on communications (public speaking, booster/alumni relations, interviewing skills, relationships with players and parents); fiscal responsibilities (fund-raising, budgeting); building a successful program (managing staff, relationships with presidents, administrators and community); moral and ethical considerations (sports wagering, agents, NCAA rules compliance); and academic issues (academic support, eligibility standards).

The NCAA Coaching Academy has been in existence for four years and attracts nearly 200 every applicants nationwide. This was the third time that Ware - who will be one of only 20 people participating - had applied for a spot in the academy. "I guess the third time is the charm," he said. "I'm fired up, it's a great opportunity and I'm going to take advantage of it and learn as much as I can."

It's the start of a busy two months for Ware. Following the trip to Indianapolis, Ware will drive to Chicago, where he will be married (Michelle) on June 17. After that, he will serve as a coach at the University of Virginia Camp on June 25, and then takes part in the Manning Passing Academy from July 6-9. Ware will run the Georgetown Prospect Camp on July 22 and then take the next two weeks to get ready for GU's preseason camp, which opens in early August.

"These next few weeks are going to be an exciting time in my life," Ware said. "Coming to Georgetown has been a great opportunity for me and I'm looking forward to this opportunity."