WASHINGTON — Now that school is out for the summer, some D.C. youth football coaches are working to make sure their players have a positive way to spend their time.
That's why they're kicking off the summer with an anti-violence event paired with a football tournament on Saturday at Anacostia High School.
It's called Smoke in the City and runs from 10:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m.
“It's the first event after the kids have gotten out of school," Head Coach of Maryland Elite High Definition 9U, Deric Davis ("Coach D") said. "So we're preaching a lot about stopping the violence, so they can have a lot of fun during the summertime.”
That's where the coaches start -- with the fun.
“It makes me happy to play football," player BJ Hymes said.
Coach D said that joy is their entry point to teach the team about the bigger picture.
“It's life lessons," he said. "Everybody's not going to go to the NFL, you know, we have to actually teach them and mold them and give them things to do.”
These efforts have already had an influence on the players.
“He's been disciplining us, teaching us good football, and teaching us how to grow up," player Ashaad Smith said.
Hymes added that he's learning "how to be a good young man."
That's a lesson Coach D said his youth football coach taught him.
"I still remember my youth football coaches," he said. "I am a product of Washington, D.C., Southeast. I went to high school at Anacostia High School... So it's not always bad things that come out of this, you can have a lot of positive. Willie Stewart was my football coach here. We named the stadium after him...and it's a testament that me coaching these young kids now, giving some of the things that I got back when I was young, and it helped me. It molded me."
To help mold these kids, there will also be multiple vendors surrounding the field Saturday, offering information on summer camps, anti-violence programs, mentorship and more.
One of those vendors and speakers is Prince Hamn, who founded the group M.A.D. (Making A Difference.)
“Idle time is the devil's playground," Hamn said. "So we want to make sure that we take as much idle time away as possible and give them something positive to do with that time, right?”
Coach D said that positivity is especially important in Southeast D.C., which is not always portrayed in a positive light.
“It's a lot of shooting and stuff going around, and we need this world to be peaceful, so stop violence," Smith said.
That's the message Coach D hopes to promote Saturday as he continues to guide these kids toward successful futures--one football practice at a time.
“It's a very, very intricate part in their lives that you have to make sure that you are one that wants to make a difference to them, because they won't forget it," he said. "I really have it deep down in my heart to give back to the to the community and the kids in the community."