FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) – Metro Youth Sports hosted their first annual “Mind Over Matter” Mental Health Awareness Takeover on Saturday, featuring some of Metro Youth Sports’ most esteemed alumni.
The event saw current NFL athletes engaging with local youth athletes regarding mental health and their actions away from sports. The nonprofit youth league aimed to inspire young athletes to continue following their athletic dreams while also emphasizing the importance of maintaining success off the field.
“We’re not just concerned about… advancement on the field,” Metro Youth Sports Athletic Director Ivan Upshaw says. “As a league, we’re also concerned and think that it’s extremely important for their well-being once they step off the field as well.”
Saturday was dubbed “Bam and D.A. Day,” featuring Carolina Panthers LB and Snider alum Bam Martin-Scott, and New York Giants DL and Wayne alum Darius Alexander. Martin-Scott and Alexander both began their football careers through Metro Youth Sports.
“We’re definitely preparing guidance for them. They can always have somebody to talk to and see who is doing it the right way. We went through the same thing they went through when we were younger,” Alexander says. “This isn’t something we had when we were younger and growing up, so just to come back and do this for them – it’s just fun to see all the kids excited and ready to have fun…”
“Being an upstanding young man in the community is a lot more successful than being a professional athlete,” Martin-Scott explains. “There is a lot more to life than just being a football player – just making sure they’re staying out of trouble and being upstanding men in the community…”
Martin-Scott and Alexander also invited Atlanta Falcons DB Jessie Bates III to speak on Saturday. A fellow Snider alum, Bates III is another product of the Metro Youth Sports pipeline. He spoke with FOX 55 about the importance of inspiring the next generation of Fort Wayne football players.
“God has blessed me with this platform, and I’d be crazy not to come back and give back to the same path that I went through,” Bates III says. “Through Metro, through the south side of Fort Wayne, and then transitioning to Snider’s football program. Which – that’s another program that really instilled some core values into who I am today. ”
“We’re very proud of the young men who are out here headed to the NFL,” Thomas Macon says. Macon is a cofounder of Metro Youth Sports and currently serves as the nonprofit’s financial officer. “Those young men started as six- and seven-year-olds! So they’re bringing back, and encouraging young people.”
“There’s a big future for you, but you must remember one thing: education and ability!”, Macon exclaims.
You can find out more about Metro Youth Sports, Inc. here.
Have a story you want FOX 55 to cover or a news tip? Send an email to news@wfft.com.