Why Polaris Athlete Exists

This work is personal. And it always will be.

My name is Jeff, and I’m the founder of Polaris Athlete. The work we do is rooted in one simple belief: student-athletes and their families deserve clarity and connection as they navigate one of the most important transitions of their lives. That’s why Polaris Athlete was built. College Counseling x NIL Education. Connected.

Our mission is to empower and build confidence by bringing structure and transparency to a process that too often feels fragmented and overwhelming.

I’m also a former student-athlete and a first-generation college graduate. I was the kid who worked day in and day out toward an opportunity that no one had shown me how to fully navigate. Somewhere right now, there’s a kid sneaking into a gym, putting in the hours, only to do it again the next day, and the next, and the next. That kid was me.

I grew up in rural Vermont in what began as a single-income household. When I was in fourth grade, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 leukemia, and overnight that became a no-income household. Any college savings my family had were redirected to groceries, electric bills, and essential needs. Even so, the expectation that I would earn a college degree never went away. The challenge was figuring out how.

Sports became both my outlet and my plan. Like many student-athletes, I believed athletics would open the door to college. But during my senior year, a football injury nearly closed it. At a moment when my path felt uncertain, Coach Graffam, a respected program builder in New England, saw potential beyond the stat sheet and gave me an opportunity at the College of St. Joseph.

At the time, I carried lived experiences and responsibilities that many adults would find overwhelming. I was driven and capable, an Eagle Scout, a caretaker for my younger siblings, a multi-sport athlete, and someone who competed and placed in local triathlons simply because I needed something constructive to do. Yet despite all of that, I applied to exactly one college, on a paper application, during the spring semester of my senior year.

I arrived on campus deeply grateful, but without real clarity about why I was there, what college was meant to unlock for me, or how it connected to my long-term future.

From my fourth-grade year through the end of my freshman year of college, my dad battled cancer, and never once did I believe he wouldn’t survive. That belief changed one July morning when I received the call that this was it. In the days that followed, it was my college teammates and Coach Graffam who carried me. That is the power of college athletics, the unbreakable bonds formed through shared values, commitment, and care for one another.

That season, our core group returned to campus and experienced something truly special. Not because of wins or losses, but because of the moments that make sports meaningful. By the end of the year, everything came together. We won our conference, earned a bid to the national tournament, and experienced it not just as a team, but as a family.

Before the academic year ended, the athletic department began moving in a different direction, and Coach Graffam exited as a result. From that point on, the program was never the same. As a student-athlete without a clear sense of purpose beyond the game, that transition proved transformative in shaping what came next for me.

Years later, after earning my M.S. in Professional School Counseling and serving as both a school counselor and founding director of college counseling, I look back on that version of myself almost out of body. The gap between opportunity and guidance is now impossible for me to ignore. I see it every day in student-athletes who are talented, motivated, and resilient, yet navigating a system that assumes access, knowledge, and support that not every family has.

That gap is exactly why Polaris Athlete exists.

Our work is not just about college placement, recruiting, or NIL education. It’s about honoring the human story behind every student-athlete. It’s about ensuring potential is matched with preparation, opportunity comes with understanding, and no student steps onto campus unsure of why they’re there or what comes next.

Polaris Athlete was built for the student-athlete who is working day in and day out toward that opportunity that they may not fully understand yet, for the families trying to make sense of a rapidly changing landscape, and for the coaches and educators who care deeply about what happens long after the final whistle.

This work is personal. And it always will be.