By Chris B. Bennett
The Seattle Medium
When it comes to Seattle’s African American community, the heart and soul of pride, especially as it relates to athletics, is deeply rooted in the Central Area. Yes, there are many success stories from other parts of the city like Rainier Valley, Rainier Beach and Beacon Hill but it’s hard to overlook the legacy of the Central.
Historically there has been a collaboration of coaches from the Central Area Youth Association (CAYA) and Garfield High School that have not only brought prominence and championships to the area at all levels, but who also served as mentors and role models for young men during critical times of their lives. The impact that these men had on the lives of young men from the community is still prevalent today as many of their former players are living productive lives, providing mentorship and are, in their own right, helping to transform young boys into men both on and off the field.
Dan Finkley, one of the founders of the Seattle Rotary Basketball program, says that when he was young sports saved him from the pitfalls of the streets and that it was the straight talk and influence of his coaches, who asked him the tough questions about life that really sunk in and helped influence the person that he is today.
“I knew sports saved me from the stuff that I was doing and trying to be out there on in the streets,” says Finkley.
“For me it was a coach by the name of Yasutake,” continued Finkley. “I’m 53 years old and I still remember the conversation from when I was 11 and 12 years old. When you have good people in your life, they may not have a lot of money, but they have good things to say.”
While many things have changed in the Central Area, there is a new collective of coaches that are setting the bar for success and providing a path to manhood to anyone who will listen.
While there is no formal relationship between them, the CD Panthers Junior Football Team, Seattle Rotary Basketball Program and Garfield High School’s football and basketball teams are connected at the hip. The relationships that the coaches build with the players in their respective programs stretch far beyond the playing field, as they utilize sports as a tool to teach life lessons and inspire their players to succeed in life.
“For me it’s about them being able to see themselves as professionals and CEOs,” says Joey Thomas, head football coach at Garfield High School. “Use the sport to get your education, so you can go be the next doctor, so you can go be the next teacher, so you can go on to be the next lawyer or community activist.”
“Some places do our kids a disservice by making it so easy on them that they aren’t learning anything,” added Thomas, who played in the NFL for five years. “Then they get to college and they’re flunking out because they don’t have the basic skills that they need to be successful. We try to teach them tangible skills and also teach them life skills so they can learn how to maneuver within the system.”
Daryll Hennings, Director of the Seattle Rotary Basketball Program, has a similar goal for his program. Started in 1996, Seattle Rotary is a feeder program for almost every high school basketball program in the area. The alumni of their program are literally a who’s who of college and professional basketball players from the Seattle area.
“We didn’t set out to make NBA players and college players,” says Hennings. “We set out to help some kids. And I think as long as we keep that focus, everything else will work itself out.”
“I tell people all the time that I love the fact that we have NBA and college players, but I’m just as happy with the dude that is a manager at Safeway that made it out of a predicament,” continued Hennings. “The dude that is just doing something functional in the community right now because we gave them something to do.”
Terrell Elmore, who has volunteered as a coach with the CD Panthers junior football team for over 21 years, is the unofficial face of the program as he coaches the six and seven-year old team – the primary pipeline for kids to come into the organization. Elmore actively recruits kids to play for his team, but he admits that his involvement with the kids is more than just football. For Elmore, it’s about showing the kids, by example, how to have healthy relationships between men who truly care about and respect one another.
“You know with the kids, they’re my babies,” says Elmore. “If you see me with the kids you will not see me give nobody a handshake, I give all my kids hugs, they haven’t been hugged by a man.”
“If I had guys like us when I was young it probably would have changed my direction in life,” continued Elmore. “I wouldn’t have gone through all the unnecessary bumps and bruises that I did.”
Admittedly, Thomas is a direct beneficiary of Elmore’s foundation with the kids. Even though he has only been coaching at Garfield for two years, Thomas knows his players inside and out. He knows their history, their family situation, what makes them shutdown and shut people out and what motivates them – all things that an inner-city football coach needs to know about his players in order to help them be successful.
“The thing I love about Elmore is that I can always ask him to tell me about a kid. Like what’s his situation because he’s seen everybody when they were little,” says Thomas. “It gives me context on how I’m going to maneuver with a kid. Sometimes a kid comes off a certain way, but it’s because he’s been through so much, so it allows me to get some perspective and say I’m not going to come at him this way. I’ll come at him another way because I can better relate to him this way.”
“The interesting part about this group is that we’re all intertwined in some way,” says Elmore. “All of us are really working with the same kids. I just had them at a younger age before they get to Daryll (Seattle Rotary), then they get to Brandon (Garfield H.S. basketball) and Joey (Garfield H.S. football) and those kids become our kids. It’s just a family throughout the process.
“It’s our responsibility to mentor and coach them in such a way where it’s beneficial for the kids, and at the end of the day it is nice to see them get out and get an opportunity.”
For Hennings, the opportunity to make sure that the young men have positive male role models in their life is something he can’t walk away from. He knows first-hand what it’s like not to have a father/father figure to support your endeavors.
“My dad was never around, he never came to a game, he never got me involved in anything,” says Hennings. “It hurt that everybody’s dad showed up, but mine never did. Once I was able to get an opportunity to help a couple of kids out I realized that this might be my lane. This might be something that I could do for my community, make a living and still give back and provide some opportunities for kids.”
At first glance, Brandon Roy, who is entering his second year as the head basketball coach at Garfield High School, is probably the most unlikely coaching candidate out of the group, as many may wonder why the former NBA all-star is coaching a high school team as opposed to coaching at the college or NBA level or just enjoying retirement. But Roy’s interest in coaching high school basketball in Seattle proves that he is Seattle through and through and it shows his commitment to helping young people navigate a system that they or their parents know very little about.
“I would always think back and think why more guys from my neighborhood didn’t make it [to college or the NBA], I wasn’t much better than many of these guys. Some guys might say we were right there [neck and neck] or maybe a bit ahead of me,” says Roy. “When I thought back, it was because I got some benefits that a lot of guys didn’t get [like tutoring, mentorship and SAT prep].”
“A lot of Black parents, when I was coming up in the nineties, were still trying to learn how to get their kids to the next steps,” Roy continued. “My dad may not say he made mistakes with my brother. But when it was my turn, he’d seen some of the areas where my brother didn’t improve or maybe not taken that next step. He put me in different environments and being in some of those environments is the only reason why I was able to go straight to college and my brother had to go to [junior college].
“I think the guys here are a bridge for these kids. That’s what we are, we’re just that, we’re that bridge,” says Roy. “I felt like I benefited a lot and I got lucky to get the help. Not in basketball, you know, I worked on that, but just getting tutoring and things like that. That’s where I got lucky.”
Seeing Roy give back to the community through coaching is not only inspiring to the other coaches, but it provides them with a renewed commitment to investing their time and energy into kids.
“Brandon Roy kind of speaks for himself,” says Hennings. “I mean the dude is an NBA Great, you know, a Seattle Great, Garfield, U-Dub and those schools went to greatness when he was there. The dude actually is giving back and he doesn’t have to.”
Coaching today at any level has its challenges. Not only are there long hours that can put a strain on relationships at home, but the coaches also take on responsibilities, often times at their own expense, to make sure that their players aren’t falling by the wayside.
For Elmore, he was spending so much time in the schools of some of his players that the schools started calling him because they couldn’t contact the parents and/or because he was the only one that could talk to the kids. In some cases, the school would hand the kids homework to Elmore who would then pass it along to the parent when he saw them at practice.
“It’s not like you’re getting up and going to work at the post office, you’re doing something that’s a 24-hour thing,” says Hennings. “I’m not just a coach. I’m a family case worker. I’ve been in bed at three, four in the morning and somebody calls and says Coach D, can you come get me?”
All of the coaches agree that each kid brings a different set of circumstances with them. And while they wish they could wave a magic wand and save the world in an instant, they rely upon their own story to help them connect with kids and carry out their mission to make a difference one person at a time.
“These kids think once you make it that you’re superhuman,” says Roy. “They think you had a silver spoon from the day you were born and that everything was perfect.”
“I struggled with school,” said Roy. “A lot of kids struggle with school so they hide and I know that because I did it. If there was something I had to do in the front of the class, I’d try to figure out how to get out of it. I knew all the tricks to it because I was that kid, but they don’t think I was, so it’s good to have those conversations with them.”
The coaches all know that they have to take care of their own personal business to maintain their respective programs, but they also know each of them needs the other. While many don’t know the trials and tribulations that they encounter through coaching, there’s nothing like a spirited conversation with another coach that helps keep everything in perspective.
“You got to have a good heart to do this because it’s tough,” says Thomas. “You don’t get a whole lot out of it. People make it seem like it’s such a glorious job. No, it’s not. The perception of what we do is completely different than the blood, sweat and tears that we put in to what we do.”
Hennings agrees that it’s easier to stay focused on the real purpose of what you do when you see other coaches working with kids and you have a mutual respect for the sacrifices that the other has made in order to make a difference in the lives of the kids they mentor, coach and love.
“I talk about me being tired and all of that,” says Hennings. “But when you see these guys working with these kids you say to yourself, here’s another dude that’s doing this. Quit complaining, get out there and do your part.”
