WESTBROOK — A program to help student athletes set career goals by introducing them to working professionals both in and outside of sports was a success, its organizer and parents said. Plans are in the works to expand it and possibly bring it into play at the high school and to community members outside of his team.

Southern Maine Supernova Baseball manager Greg Post created the free “Career Aspirations” program for his athletes. Fifteen to 20 teenagers, mostly high school seniors and juniors, and their parents met weekly via Zoom. The 12–week program wrapped up Nov. 24.

“Coming out in January we are going to shift our focus to a college experience and have a lot of guest speakers with colleges to promote the academic piece at different schools,” said Post, who is the director of the Westbrook Community Center. “I’d love to get it through the schools and vocational school as well.”

Post and parents who spoke to the American Journal said the program created good conversations with the teens.

“I think that’s been a fabulous program,” said Westbrook parent Mike Eugley, whose sons Matt and Ben play on the Supernova team. “I am guessing it’s helping some of the parents as much as kids, and that’s a good thing. Some of these kids don’t know what direction they want to go in. We’ve been listening to it as a family and as far as conversations, we have those after. We talk about it, school things and helping them understand things they didn’t get that may be important. It’s been a great series.”

So far, the program has brought in both local and distant professionals, ranging from professional baseball scouts to computer programmers, radio DJ’s, financial experts and entrepreneurs.

“It’s more making sure kids at that age understand they have options,” said Los Angeles Kings Controller Scott Sangrey, who was one of the speakers. “Not only are they out there playing sports, having fun, learning team dynamics, but Greg is also giving them the options to look at the rest of your life. We aren’t all fortunate enough to play in professional sports, but if you love sports there are options to work in them or other ways to work around what you love.”

Sangrey’s talk focused on how he worked to secure his job with the NHL’s Kings. The chances of playing in the major leagues are slim, he said, but with a specific path through education or hard work students can work in the sport they are are passionate about.

Parent Nell O’Connell said the program helped her son Finn broaden his options.

“I ask my son where he wants to go to school, he mentions he could play ball here or there, and I ask, ‘What do they offer?’ And he never knows, so it’s opened up a dialogue to allow us to explore the things he would be interested in looking into aside from baseball,” O’Connell said.

Frog and Turtle restaurant owner James Tranchemontagne said speaking to the student athletes “reminds you of where you were at that age.”

“One kid asked me what the most important thing I did as a career to get where I was, and I said ‘finishing school, honestly,'” he said. “For whatever reason people drop out and it’s important to get that degree. They’re close, so stick with it.”

Videos from the program are available on the baseball team’s Facebook page.

“I think we did some good work in getting kids to build goals and give them some direction when they get back to school,” Post said.