DJ founded Aspiring Athletes in 2003. As a succesful entrepreneur, DJ has created a company that caters to the young athlete of today with a focus on responsibility, accountability and character. Teaching young athletes both on and off the field has become a passion for him.

DJ played one year of collegiate baseball before signing a professional contract where he spent 5 seasons with the Cincinatti Reds and Cleveland Indians organizations. He also is a part-time scout with the Cleveland Indians. Other past baseball duties include assistant baseball coach at Cuyahoga Community College, Urbana University, and talent consultant for the Rockford River Hawks in the Frontier League (professional baseball) as well as the hitting/catching coach in 2006.

Magdiel Santana is the acting Chief Operating Officer for Aspiring Athletes. He joined the firm in the summer of 2009 and has been tasked with executing a corporate development initiative. In 2004 Magdiel graduated from Ohio University in Athens where he completed his BBA with a focus in Management Information Systems. In the summer of 2009 he completed his MBA from Cleveland State University. Magdiel is also a business analyst for a support service contractor in the Cleveland area.

Currently Magdiel's focus with Aspiring Athletes is on business operations, business modeling, marketing, brand and strategy development as well as internal process improvements. Magdiel has been close friends with DJ since the inception of the firm and shares the same passion for using the game of baseball/softball as a means to help kids develop into responsible and productive young men and women.

Originally from Baltimore, MD, Josh Bieneman played 4 years of collegiate baseball at Baltimore City Community College, Georgia College & State University and Notre Dame College. As a catcher, Josh was also selected to play 2 summers in the highly competitive Shenandoah Valley League, in Virginia. After a brief experience in professional baseball with Chillicothe Paints in 2008, Josh decided to put all focus and efforts on the coaching and development of younger athletes.

In 2007, Josh joined Aspiring Athletes as an Assistant Coach for the 16U Orioles. Since this time, Josh has been the Head Coach of the 2009 16U Great Lakes Giants, the 2010 18U Great Lakes Giants, the 2010 16U Ohio Orioles Black and Coach for 2010 USA Baseball 15U Regional Team. Josh is also the Head Catching Instructor for Aspiring Athletes and is the Varsity Assistant Coach at St. Ignatius High School, where he works with the catchers and hitters.

Dominique graduated high school in 2003 where he lead his Copley Indians to a school win record breaking season. He then went on to play D-1 baseball on scholarship at Cleveland State University. After a year, he then transferred to Kent State University where he was a player/coach for the club team in 2005. After a successful club season, he then walked onto the varsity team at Kent to win the MAC championship in 2006 and 2007. Following the 2007 season, where the Golden Flashes competed in the NCAA Regionals in Missouri, he was selected in the 36th round by the Minnesota Twins Organization. After 2 1/2 season with the club he broke away to play Independent League baseball in Michigan on a team named the Kalamazoo Kings. After a short stint with the Kings, Dominique decided to return to Kent St. University to finish his degree in education. Graduating in December of 2008, he became the 2nd member of his family to accomplish their educational dream of graduating college.

In the Aspiring Athletes company, Dominique takes on the responsibility of over seeing the college placement process. Brief job description would include: Organizing the showcase evaluations, Educated the player/parent on the recruiting process, hosting informational college seminars, contacting schools for players, setting up and keeping track of college visits, recruiting other College Placement members.

Eric Schmitz graduated from St. Edwards High School in 2001. He was a three year varsity starter in Center Field. He was a three year All-Conference Player and was Honorable Mention All-Ohio his junior year. Eric received a Division 1 Baseball Scholarship to Cleveland State University and played the Outfield there for three years.

Eric went on to play his Senior year for Notre Dame College and was named to the All-AMC Conference Team and also the All- Region. Eric has also coached at Notre Dame College for a year while he prepared to play professionally for the Traverse City Beach Bums in the Frontier Independent Baseball League. Eric has coached and worked for Aspiring Athletes for 3 years now.

Ashley graduated from Medina High School in 2008. Shortly after graduating, she moved to Akron, OH where she is currently working on her Bachelor's Degree in Marketing at the University of Akron. She expects to graduate by 2012 with a major in e-Marketing and Advertising and a minor in Information Systems Management.

Ashley started at Aspiring Athletes in 2006 and slowly transitioned in her current role as the Marketing Director. Many of her responsibilities attribute to the current public image that is presented by AAthletes.com. All advertisements, promotions and communication to the public for various events and programs stem from the work in the marketing department.

Kyle is a current resident of Cleveland, OH but attended North Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2005 he was a member of the Trojans team that finished 3rd in the state. He was first team all conference as a position player and a pitcher. He also played basketball for his high school team and they won their conference 4 years in a row. He was an all conference honorable mention for basketball as well. After High School he attended Cleveland State University where he pitched. He will be graduating in May of this year with a Sports Management Degree as well as a Minor in Business.

At Aspiring Athletes Kyle is the USA Baseball Coordinator as well as the 16U Giants Head Coach. He is in charge of the budget, facility accommodations, hotel and apparel, and camp logistics for the USA Baseball ID Series Camps. He is also the parent/player correspondent for any questions that they might have. He also is collaborating with a team to head up the Top Gun Classic Tournament taking place in Akron OH on July 4th weekend. Finally he will be coaching the 16U Giants travel baseball team this summer for the Aspiring Athletes organization

Tommy is a Mentor resident and a 2005 graduate of Mentor High School. He helped lead the Cardinals to the state semifinal game as a senior. He was awarded Lake Erie League Player of the Year and All State honorable mention. After high school he played baseball at Lakeland Community College (Kirtland, Oh) for two years and Coker College (Hartsville, SC)for two years. In 2009, he graduated from Coker College with a BA in Communication. At Coker College, he was a member of the Academic All Conference Team and Deans list for his academic achievements.

Gary is a Medina Ohio resident and owner of Cubit, Inc., a Technology and Business Solutions consulting company. He is a 25 year veteran in the field of information technologies offering consulting services to companies like Goodrich, TRW, Lucas Aerospace, Hoover, Circuit City and many small businesses here in northeast Ohio.

Gary is responsible for keeping Aspiring Athletes technology needs and capabilities at the top of our industry market helping us to gain a competitive edge and making our internal operations more productive. Gary has also launched a successful media venture handling all video and website needs for Aspiring Athletes showcase, college placement and USA Baseball events.

Shay Adams is a Parma, Ohio resident and a 2005 graduate of Celina Senior High School in Celina, Ohio where she played soccer and softball. After high school, Shay played softball for two years at the University of Dayton as an outfielder and catcher before transferring to Cleveland State University to play softball for two years as a utility player. While at CSU, the Vikings won a regular season Horizon League title in 2008 and a Horizon League tournament title in 2009, followed by an automatic berth to the 2009 NCAA Regional Tournament. In 2008, Adams was honored as a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Academic All-American and in 2009 she garnered Second Team All-League and Academic All-League honors. Shay was on the Dean’s List every semester and graduated from CSU with a BBA in Finance in August 2009.

Melissa was born in Cleveland, but grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. She graduated in 1994 from North Catholic High School. After studying Business Management at the Community College of Alleghany County, she returned to the Cleveland area in 1997 and began working at Softball World in Brook Park, OH. She worked at Softball World as Office Manager until its closing in 2009. She brings more than 10 years experience in business administration.

Melissa was recently brought on to the Aspiring Athlthes staff in April to oversee the day to day office opperations. She currently resides in Columbia Station, OH with her husband and two daughters.