Bowker Biography:
Mark Bercik

 

Mark Bercik is the author of the America’s Complete SPORTS SCHOLARSHIP GUIDE. He has been involved in the collegiate sports recruiting process that leads to athletic and/or academic scholarships and financial aid in some capacity since 1975—when he was a 15-year-old junior shortstop who began receiving letters from colleges and advice from professional scouts. He attended a high school in Brookfield, Ohio, a small town of nearly 10,000, with a graduating class of slightly over 100 students. Brookfield is located on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border in the middle of the nationally known and tradition-rich sports communities of Northeastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. This area is an athletic recruiting hotbed for college coaches who recruit high-school athletes for all sports in Ohio’s Cleveland, Youngstown/Warren, and Akron/Canton/Massillon areas and Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh/Beaver Falls/Sharon/Farrell areas.

He credits his coaches and his family upbringing for being able to get a college baseball scholarship—especially his father, a former Marine sergeant, for whom the America’s Complete SPORTS SCHOLARSHIP GUIDE was dedicated. His dad coached him from the age of 10, when he started playing baseball, until he was 15.

In the fall of his 16th year, Mark received a Division I scholarship and signed a Letter of Intent to play baseball at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. There he was a member of the Mid-American conference team, as well as MVP and captain of his team. His goal was to play pro baseball, which he did later in Washington and Utah. To date, Mark is still among the youngest athletes ever to receive an athletic scholarship at age 16.

In his professional career, the author has been in direct contact with thousands of high-school, collegiate, and professional coaches on many levels as a coach, scout, and personal instructor. He also worked in the offices of minor league teams in San Jose, California, as well as being a personal assistant to Woody Kern, the current owner of the Tampa Bay Storm Arena Football League team and also the owner of minor league teams, in Little Falls and Newark, New York; Walla Walla, Washington; and Asheville, North Carolina.

His experience includes developing relationships with university and pro sports coaches, as well as being the owner/operator of Tiger Fitness’ Products, a manufacturer of weight equipment that designed and set up weight rooms in sports facilities, such as at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in 1986.

While he ran his business in Athens, Ohio, Mark organized a fundraising promotion on the campus of Ohio University to benefit a scholarship fund for future university athletes in Tiger Fitness Products’ name. The scholarship fund was called PAWS (Providing Athletes With Scholarships). In addition to being an author and running America Sports Publishing which provides sports-related books for junior-high and high-school athletes and their parents, coaches and guidance counselors, Mark also helps youngsters of all ages as a personal instructor and coach for the Line-Drive Baseball Academy in Youngstown, Ohio. The 15-16-year-old team that Mark managed finished in 9th place in the country in the Mickey Mantle division in 2002.

He decided to write this sports scholarship guide because of all the uncertainties and misconceptions that student athletes and parents/guardians have about the athletic recruiting process. He also wanted to stress the importance of having a college education to fall back on when the student athlete’s playing days are over.

“There are so many variables and factors involved in collegiate sports and the business side of recruiting that student athletes and parents/guardians aren’t aware of that I felt there was a need for this kind of guide,” Mark says.

“I was fortunate enough to have obtained an enormous amount of knowledge through my own personal experiences and those of my fellow high school, college, and professional teammates and coaches that I feel that at this point in my life that writing this book to benefit today’s student athletes is something I was put on this earth to do. My way of ‘giving something back to the game’ so to speak.” Bercik said.

An example of just how surrounded Mark was by the athletic recruiting process ever since he was in junior-high follows.

Within a five-year period in a small town where he went to high school, an incredible number of fellow classmates went on to colleges on athletic scholarships; three became All-Americans. A remarkable total of six classmates from this small school went on to play sports on a professional level. The high-school basketball team the author played on had eight players go on to play sports play in college, with five receiving Division I athletic scholarships. Four of them were selected as captains of their college teams by their fellow college teammates before they moved on to play professional sports.

Some classmates went to major Division I schools, such as Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Arizona, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame, while others went to Southern Illinois, Miami of Ohio, Kent State, Allegheny, Clarion, Hiram, Walsh, Lakeland, Mount Union, Ohio Wesleyan, and Youngstown State. Scholarships were awarded in football, basketball, baseball, track, golf, and wrestling.

Mark and all of his fellow teammates were inspired to have big-time dreams and goals by another athlete from their home town a few years older than they were. This particular athlete, who was overlooked in the recruiting process by every college coach in the country, never played college sports yet still went on to play seven years in the NFL as a wide receiver for the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, and Buffalo Bills.

“Some of Mark’s coaches received scholarships in basketball, baseball, and football to schools such as West Virginia, Tulane, Youngstown State, and Murray State. His high-school principal received a baseball scholarship to Ohio University. Mark had a difficult time walking down the hallway of his high school without crossing paths with a teacher who hadn’t played college or pro sports. Some of his teachers went to schools such as the University of Akron, Adrian College, Findlay, and Kent State University, with one even making it to the minor leagues as a pitcher. Even a guidance counselor at Mark’s small town school during this special period in time while Mark was in high school received a baseball scholarship to Edinboro University and was selected as the MVP of his team.”

“When it comes to student athletes winning the college recruiting and scholarship game, America’s Complete Sports Scholarship Guide is a grand slam, touchdown, and slam dunk all in one.”

Jerry Bonkowski,
former USA TODAY sportswriter

“If you’re a parent of a student athlete, you’ve got to read this guide!”

John “Cappy” Caparanis,
ESPN Sports Radio 1240 AM

“It is refreshing to see how Mark Bercik and all of the people interviewed are giving something back to the game to help young athletes understand the recruiting process and the importance of a college education.”

Joe Carbone,
head baseball coach, Ohio University

“This book tells it like it is! The recruiting process that leads to athletic scholarships and financial aid is all about numbers—your GPA, your height, your weight, your speed, how many scholarships each sport has to offer, etc.”

Mark Stoops,
Defensive backs coach,
University of Miami, Fla., 2001 National Champions

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Mark Bercik with former Ohio University teammate Mike Barnett (L), Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach.

Paul Maguire (L), ESPN NFL analyst, with the author at a scholarship dinner for the benefit of high-school student-athletes from Paul’s alma mater in Youngstown, Ohio.

 

Web: www.athleticscholarshipbook.com
Email: Mark@AthleticScholarshipBook.com
Address: America Sports Publishing
6881 Stewart Rd.
Brookfield, OH 44403 USA
Phone: (330) 448-0866
Fax: (330) 448-0936