Matthew’s love of the boarding school system first developed during his days as a student athlete at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT and subsequently St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY.

His experiences at both levels, which included an NCAA title at St. Lawrence before graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree, created a deep appreciation of the emphasis placed on both academics and athletics throughout private boardings schools and universities.

After graduation, Kokoszka went on to teach and coach, paths that would alter his life. In his last five years working as a teacher and boys soccer coach at The Kiski School in Salstburg, PA, Kokoszka was able to recruit his own players. However, it was when he began working in the Admissions Department that Kokoszka truly understood the process full circle and realized there was a unique opportunity to create a company that combined the high level of athletics with placing students in boarding schools, a niche that was going unfulfilled.

In 2019 Kokoszka founded Global Education & Sports Partners (GESP), which is now co-owned by three people including GESP Vice President John Chiavaroli, a former high school soccer teammate and long-time friend. The company initially began with a focus on boys soccer as most of Kokoszka’s contacts were through the sport. Today, the company has expanded to encompass a wide variety of sports and is working with students in several regions throughout the world.

Many of the company’s clients hope to use the high level of education and athletics provided in boarding schools as a steppingstone to compete at the collegiate level, Kokoszka said. However, there are others who also attend boarding school in the United States for one year to learn English and create professional opportunities for themselves when they return home.

While there are several challenges that GESP encounters as facilitators for students to find the best school for them, Kokoszka indicated there is a lot of gratification in the end result.

“Once you look at everything together and what GESP is and what we’ve accomplished, some of the success stories are amazing. At the conference this past year some of the new schools and our old schools came up to me and John and they were just so complimentary of what GESP is, our staff, our partners from around the world and you really feel it when you’re at the conference,” Kokoska said. “The schools and the partners that have been part of it for a long time once they get together it’s like family. We have so much fun, there’s a trust in each other and a love of working together.

“This is a business that’s built on relationships. Just to see and feel those relationships has been pretty special.”

A first generation Italian-American, Chiavaroli began working at Global Education Sports Partners in 2022, initially working as the country coordinator for Italy.

Fluent in English, Italian and French, Chiavaroli soon began making connections in additional countries. He gradually began taking on more responsibilities and today is involved in every aspect of the operation from contract decisions to placement of students in boarding schools.

In making the transition to GESP, Chiavaroli brought with him a wealth of experience, having spent 20 years teaching and coaching soccer in boarding schools. He began his teaching career at King School in Stamford, CT and later taught at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT, before taking a job at Williston Northhampton School in Easthampton, MA where he still serves as the Director of Soccer.

Chiavaroli developed a love of boarding schools through his own experience as a student at Choate Rosemary Hall. While at Choate, Chiavaroli also played soccer where developed a friendship with then teammate, and GESP Founder and Owner, Matt Kokoszka.

The two kept in touch and when Kokoszka was forming GESP in 2019, even though he was working at Williston Northampton School at the time, Chiavaroli was close to what was happening at the company. A few years later, the two friends became teammates again where Chiavaroli eventually became the Vice President and an owner of the company.

Although Chiavaroli had considerable experience working in the boarding school environment, spending many of his years teaching history and coaching soccer, it wasn’t until he took the position at GESP that he developed a greater understanding of the most important factors to take into consideration when considering placement of students into a boarding school. Still, he said his professional experiences have helped him strive to do his best in assisting GESP families, and the students themselves, find the best fit and achieve success.

As the company has continued to grow to include hundreds of clients, one challenge has beenproviding personalized attention to each of them. However, he and the rest of the GESP team still take pride in providing that to the students and families.

“We care a lot about making sure that every family has a good option for their child,” Chiavarolisaid. “We are talking about parent’s children. These are really, really important people in the parent’s lives and so you want to do a good job of finding the right fit for their children.”

Kelly Alves entry into the world of Admissions came in a somewhat unorthodox manner.

After years of working jobs that were not the typical 9-5, Alves was asked to work as a temp in the admissions office at Woodstock Academy.

After eight weeks, when her time as a temp was almost over, the Chief Financial Officer offered her a position working in the International Admissions Department. At the time, the department did not exist at Woodstock Academy, but Woodstock Academy was creating one so they could begin recruiting international students.

Alves accepted the offer and began working as the Assistant Director of Admissions with most of her time spent working mostly with international students. She held the position for seven years before taking a job as the Director of Admissions for another school. Alves eventually resigned the position as the Director of Admissions and about two months later Global Sports Education Partners Founder and Owner Matt Kokoszka, who she had met while working at Woodstock Academy, offered her a job. Without hearing any more about it, Alves accepted. The experience in admissions and processing the necessary paperwork for the international students was a significant asset. In addition, Alves also interviewed the students and would help walk them and their families through the application and financial aid processes.

With her connections to Woodstock Academy, Alves was also instrumental in helpingfacilitate the partnership between the school and GESP, which has become GESP’s flagship school. 

Today, Alves is responsible for recruiting international students from Iceland, Denmark, the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic. She is also responsible for planning and organizing the company’s yearly conference held each September. Work to set up the conference begins in January with Alves making a variety of arrangements to pull the conference together, which requires coordinating not only with the GESP team, but all of its partners and the schools.

However, at the end of the day, Alves said the aspect of the job that she has always found most rewarding has been working with the students and families.

“What’s really rewarding is when I work with students and then I still am in contact with them years later even after they’ve gone to high school and college,” Alves said. “I have kids that I used to work with at Woodstock 10 to 12 years ago who I still talk to today. When they’re in the area, we’ll go and have breakfast together. I feel like that is the most rewarding because now I’ve seen them not only go through the process with admissions, with us, but I’ve seen them after doing their thing which is kind of exciting.”

Noah Giovanelli’s path to becoming the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Director of the Thrive League for Global Education Sports Partners, began soon after the company had been established.

After he graduated from college, Giovanelli received a job offer from GESP owner and founder, and his former coach, Matt Kokoszka.

Kokoszka had recruited Giovanelli to play soccer at The Kiski School in Saltsburg, PA when he was 15-years-old and during his four years at the boarding school Giovanelli developed a bond with Kokoszka and his family. The two kept in touch while Giovanelli was attending Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. At the time, Kokoszka was forming the idea of GESP and would occasionally mention it to Giovanelli in conversation. By the time Giovanelli was a senior, the idea had become a reality and when Kokoszka offered him a job, Giovanelli quickly accepted.

Being able to travel, experience different cultures and interact with new people while maintaining a connection to soccer were all appealing aspects of the position, but combining those things with education was extremely important to Giovanelli.

“I had a really good boarding school experience, so being able to help kids kind of follow the same path was exciting,” Giovanelli said.

In his role as the COO, one of Giovanelli’s main responsibilities involves helping organize, and attending most of, the company’s international showcases, of which there are 10 to 15 every year. In addition, Giovanelli recently began managing and monitoring the profiles of all GESP students and candidates throughout the world with the help of the GESP team to ensure that everything is running smoothly. The effort includes a high level of organization and communication between not only Giovanelli and the GESP team, but the families, the schoolsand various other parties all while navigating challenges such as cultural differences, language barriers and different time zones, just to name a few.

At the end of the day, Giovanelli believes communicating effectively assists him in trying to provide the students and their families with a positive experience.  

“They’re sending their kids, potentially halfway across the world to a different country and a different culture, so I think it’s really important to have the ability to understand and listen at the same time,” Giovanelli said. “Even though we’re going around explaining who we are, what we do and the opportunities that exist, it’s also important to be able to listen.”

As the Director of the Thrive League, Giovanelli’s biggest responsibility is to take care of the kids and ensure that they at least have all the basic requirements, which may include things such as new cleats, school approved clothing and a cell phone plan. It also includes making sure they have books, school supplies and any other materials to help them achieve success in the classroom.

Once the students are placed in their schools, Giovanelli also checks in with them to see not only how they are doing, but how they are adjusting to their new environment.

While there is a lot of gratification in both roles, Giovanelli said he takes a lot of satisfaction in seeing kids take advantage of the opportunities given to them.

“To see the way that they seize it and just take advantage of it and contributing in so many different ways besides just the football pitch, that for me is the most rewarding part of the job; seeing the kids develop and grow and come out of their shells,” said Giovanelli. “They’re so humble and they’re so filled with gratitude that they’re just very special kids to work with.”

Years before becoming an educational consultant, Mark Viser had heard of Global Education Sports Partners (GESP) when he was a Spanish teacher and coach at Christchurch School.

During his five-year tenure at the school, he noticed a larger influx of international students. One day, he asked a friend of his in the admissions office where all the international students were coming from and his friend told him the connection was through GESP.
Viser didn’t think much about it at the time and he ultimately left the school to pursue his Master’s degree in Spanish. After he received his degree, he began looking for a job. At the time, Viser wasn’t quite ready to renter the classroom. He wanted a job that allowed him to work more directly with native speakers, but also allowed him to develop relationships with students and make an impact, as he found that to be one of the most gratifying aspects of working at Christchurch School. He reached out to the same friend in admissions who had told him about GESP and his friend told him that they were hiring and he should explore the opportunity.

After a couple interviews with Founder and Owner Matt Kokoszka and co-owners John Chivariolli and Jose Manuel Díaz Tendero, Viser accepted a position as an educational consultant with the company.

Today Viser’s main responsibilities include recruiting, processing of applications and enrolling students from Spain and Guatemala. Viser also serves as the point person for the families ofGESP students from those countries as well as the schools that GESP students from those countries attend.

Once he has recruited the students, Viser not only helps process their applications, but recommends the schools that are the best fit for them. In addition to the four key factors that the company takes into consideration when placing students, Viser also considers some of the intangible factors that come from conducting interviews with the students. As an example, if a student shared that they wanted to become a pilot, Viser might suggest a school within the company’s network that has a pilot program where the student can begin taking courses.

Once the students are enrolled, Viser then serves as a liaison between the schools and the families for the duration of time that they are attending boarding school.

“I had some time abroad and it meant so much to me, so it’s rewarding to give back and provide similar experiences to people who want to come check out our country,” said Viser. “I love my interviews with the kids. … I love that interaction with the kid. That’s why we do all of this is to help provide them with those experiences.”

In addition to recruiting the students and helping them and the families through the process, Viser also attends all the showcases that the company hosts in Spain and Guatemala and helps with the company’s main conference that is held once a year.

It is at some of these showcases that Viser gets to see the impact he and the company have had on people’s lives.

“When we do these showcases in Spain and in Guatemala a lot of the parents will come back to these showcases just to see everybody and talk to us and give testimonials sometimes for prospective families,” Viser said.  “It’s really great catching back up with them and hearing about how everything is going well.”

Jordan Carver brings a wealth of experience to Global Education Sports Partners (GESP). In his role as an educational consultant, Carver not only helps with boarding school placement, but specializes in college placement. In addition, he is one of the members of the GESP team that has been tasked with helping boarding schools build their soccer programs, which includes not only scouting players and hiring coaches, but also advising them on the facilities that are required, among other details.

“I think that’s a really key element of our job that sometimes goes unnoticed,” Carver said. “We’re placing all these kids at different places, but we’re not just doing that. We’re actually talking to school administrations and telling them how to create a boarding school soccer program.”

In addition to working with GESP, Carver is the CEO and founder of Soccer Pathways, the Vice President of Recruitment and Placement for the USTARS Group and an adjunct professor at Iowa Western Community College where he teaches courses in Sport and Exercise Psychology and Introduction to Psychology.

In September of 2020, Carver began working with Scholarbook, a German recruiting service, as the College Athletics Placement Coordinator for men’s soccer. Prior to working with Scholarbook, Carver had been working with GESP owner and founder Matt Kokoszka on college placement dating back to 2019, when the company was first formed, while he was the head soccer coach at Iowa Western Community College. However, it wasn’t until September of 2023 that Carver officially took on a role as an educational consultant with the company.

During his time with Scholarbook, Carver said on average the company placed 200 soccer players in the United States and Canada. Carver has now brought his experience from that role to GESP and as an educational consultant helps the families understand the schools that the company is offering as potential placement options, at the boarding school and college levels.  

“The best is opening the eyes of parents and student athletes to the endless possibilities that exist in the United States through the power of sport and education and the cultural diversity that exists within all of these areas,” Carver said.

As an example, Carver recounted helping a student from Germany attend a college ID camp. The camp helped GESP students, and others, with college placement and while at the camp the student was recruited by Yale University. However, due to the educational differences that exist between Germany and the United States, Yale asked the student to go to boarding school for a year, take some advanced placement courses and improve his test scores. The extra gap year paid off and allowed the student to matriculate at Yale. Carver indicated it is those kinds of situations that help make GESP, and his role, special.

“Just the fact that the boarding school opportunity, doing a post graduate year, allowed this kid the opportunity to attend an elite school in the world, that is what makes this experience so amazing,” Carver said.