Vallejo grad trying to help athletes
Ex-player Lake forms Scholar Athlete Team
Allen Lake III has always believed that there have been many great athletes to come out of Vallejo. However, he wants local students to aspire for more when it comes to their grades.
With that in mind, the Vallejoan and 1997 Vallejo High School graduate has formed Scholar Athlete Team. The goal of Scholar Athlete Team is to prepare youth for the rigors of education and athletics in high school and in college, and to help youth attain full ride scholarships to four-year colleges or universities. Lake believes his program will set a new standard for Vallejo student athletes.
“When I was in high school I was a good baseball player and might have been drafted, but my senior year I got kicked off the team due to grades,” Lake said. “I didn’t have that great role model in my life to help guide me. I think there are a lot of student athletes that don’t know what the next level looks like. They should be learning about that stuff in the ninth grade. By their senior year it’s too late.”
While Vallejo has produced great athletes such as CC Sabathia, Jeff Gordon, Joe Thurston, Dick Bass and C.J. Anderson to name a few, the education system has struggled recently. According to publicschoolreview.com, public schools in the Vallejo City Unified School District have an average math proficiency score of 21 per
“I didn’t have that great role model in my life to help guide me. I think there are a lot of student athletes that don’t know what the next level looks like.” – Allen Lake III, of Vallejo, who started the Scholar Athlete Team.
cent (versus the California public school average of 37 percent), and reading proficiency score of 30 percent (versus the 48 percent statewide average). This district’s average school ranking is in the bottom 50 percent of public schools in California. With rating like that on Lake’s mind, he wanted to help make a change.
In 2019, Lake earned a license in clinical social work. Soon after, Lake opened a private practice called Allen Lake Mental Health Therapy. He specializes in individual therapy with transition age youth (ages 16-24). Lake has coached youth sports such as football, baseball and basketball in Vallejo and Benicia as a volunteer since 2010. He was the Vallejo High junior varsity basketball coach in 2014.
He also works at a nonprofit organization called First Place for Youth providing education, employment, and healthy living services for probation and foster youth in Solano County.
Although he’s been popular in the community for the last decade, he began dreaming up Scholar Athlete Team program as far back as when he was a senior in high school himself. The program is still new, but Lake said he could help up to 20 individuals, both in one-on-one sessions, but more importantly, in groups.
“When working at different jobs you have to have a team concept,” Lake said. “Working as a group on a team or at work, the same skills go hand in hand. Working well with others is a skill you must have. In my program you learn those valuable lessons you can transition to your employer.”
Scholar Athlete Team members strive for above a 3.3 grade point average (GPA), sets and complete quarterly educational and athletic goals, and attends monthly life skills workshops. Lake believes by strengthening youth’s educational foundation, setting and achieving athletic goals, and teaching essential life skills Scholar Athlete
Team will assist the City of Vallejo in developing productive members of society.
“I enjoy working with youth. This is what I love to do. Scholar Athlete Team is like the icing on the cake,” Lake said on this web page.
One local athlete that took advantage of the Scholar Athlete Team program was 2020 Vallejo High graduate Deven Johnson, a three-sport athlete that will be attending Grambling State in the fall.
“It was a real eye-opener for me and I wish I had started it as a freshman (He began as a senior),” Johnson said. “He gave me a lot of good advice on how to stay focused and if I stayed on track what I could accomplish. Basically if you put in the work now, you could see what would come later.”
“I enjoy working with youth. This is what I love to do. Scholar Athlete Team is like the icing on the cake.”
– Allen Lake III, of Vallejo, who started the Scholar Athlete Team.