Co-founders Julian Viera and Tyler Kazio share a history in academics and athletics. In the fall of 2016, Julian was a captain and Tyler was an assistant coach of the New Egypt High School varsity football team. As an older cousin and coach, Tyler guided Julian through football practices, strength and conditioning, and playbooks. 

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As the valedictorian of his high school class and a graduate of MIT, Julian has been a STEM tutor since he was 14 years old. Growing up low-income and being a first-generation college student himself, Julian is extremely passionate about ensuring equal access to academic resources. 

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As a former coach of the New Jersey Warriors (the only junior college football team in New Jersey at the time), Tyler helped kids from all over the state improve their high school football film and raise their grades. However, he also saw that there was only so much an expensive football program could do on its own. 

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After years of discussions about the inequities in academics and athletics and with the shared desire to level the playing field, Tyler and Julian founded Ballers & Bookworms. Their goal now is the same as it was when Tyler was a coach and Julian was a tutor: provide student-athletes the resources they need to thrive on the field, in the classroom, and anywhere their life takes them.