The participants also partake in other outdoor activities such as mountain biking.
“It’s really interesting because these guys rarely get out of the city and for them to get out on a mountain biking trail is really cool for them,†Acton said.
Acton feels like his program is highly successful and different from others because kids have an outlet year-round.
“The problem is, these kids, they’ll connect with a coach and then the football season’s over, they connect with a teacher, and then the next year they have a different teacher,†Acton said. “Many don’t have much support at home, so having our coach mentors with them year-round and year after year is really part of the thing that makes it family for the guys. That sense of family is what’s really, really important for our guys, because they don’t have it at home and they’re looking for it and in the inner city you find it hanging with a gang.â€
The foundation currently works closely with 45-50 kids at a time. Acton tries to keep the numbers manageable enough so that the mentor-to-kid ratio is two kids for every coach.
The program attracts kids ages 6 and up. It doesn’t have a cap on age because there’s a fair number of adults with autism spectrum disorder and other health disorders.
“What we do is we treat it as, ‘You guys are Banners for life.’ They like to stay involved,†Acton said. “What we are doing now is having some of our veteran Banner guys do an adult league, so they’ll still be as a team and some of the coaches are going to be on the team.â€
Acton really finds it rewarding when former Banners players come back and volunteer for the program. They are giving back to something that helped them get and stay on their feet.
“They still feel attached, which I think is one of the really cool parts,†Acton said.Â
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
