Janaz Jordan’s first offer is a big one
Elton Brown and Antoine Bethea team for Shutdown Academy event
by Brandon Mitchell, recruit757
Saturday offered a dose of heat in the worst way. This didn’t stop Elton Brown and Antoine Bethea from rounding up some of the best the 757 has to offer and providing an opportunity to bring entertainment to the children. Last year Elton Brown came together with Antoine Bethea and they held their first Community Day and Kickball Tournament at Denbigh High School. The Community Day turned out so well they decided to bring it back again this year. This year, Brown and Bethea held their Community Day at Heritage High School. Although the heat was blistering on Saturday, the kids found a way to see past the heat and enjoy another Community Day.
“Last year Antoine and I wanted to put together a kickball and community day where we wanted to put something together in order to give something to the kids. We wanted them to come out for a day and enjoy themselves. We did it at Denbigh High School last year and this year we kind of wanted to bring it back this way me being from this side of the water. Antoine is from the other side so this year we decided to switch locations. It’s an amazing thing to be able to come back and be able to do this for the kids and our community,’ stated Brown.
The Kickball Tournament and Community Day only lasted from about four or five hours. However, that was long enough to make sure the children of the 757 were doing something positive. With so much negativity going on throughout the country, Brown and Bethea took an afternoon to indulge the community with a day of enjoyment. Outside of the Kickball Tournament, Brown and Bethea provided a bounce house and a cotton candy machine to help keep the children entertained. On the opposite end of the Kickball Tournament, there was another kickball game being facilitated. On the main football field there were 10-to-15 children playing football. Opposite of the bounce house, half a dozen high school football players were working on footwork agility drills. Brown and Bethea proved this day navigated completely around the kids.
“The kids are very important on this day. I know it’s only about five hours but if we can provide within these five hours we know they’re not in the streets doing something nonproductive for those five hours. We want this to be important for us every year as we continue to give back to the kids. We want them to know that we were once in the same position as them and if we can come out here and do what we’re doing then so can they,” said Brown.
Brown and Bethea we’re at Heritage High School facilitating this event by themselves. They got a lot of help from Gethsemane Baptist Church. Gethsemane has been a great sponsor for Shutdown 757 Academy as Gethsemane has allowed Shutdown to use their facility for practices. Regina Mobley (WVEC-TV anchor), B.W. Webb (Tennessee Titans), and Tommy Reamon are also a few of the tireless souls who have helped manifest another successful Community Day. Travel football teams from Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia were also on site to make sure the day went smooth. Shutdown of their organization out to lend a helping hand to the event. Shutdown is in full and looking to already have a lot of community support as they move into the next stage of their development.
Right now we have five teams and our age is from 6-to-14 years of age. We are really trying to cap at a total of 123 children in our program.
Football wise we have a total of 60 cheerleaders which divides into three teams of 20 cheerleaders apiece. Everyone has been showing up and practice has been going great on both the football and cheerleading side of the house. We’re ready to roll and we start playing competitive football on August 20. Shutdown is more than just an athletic association. We’re trying to bring back the student-athlete model and push these kids to do what it takes to be successful in the classroom,” added Brown.
For the parents of children who are interested in learning more about what Shutdown 757 Academy provides here is their link: http://757shutdownacademyfalcons.com/index.html
– Brandon Mitchell
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