The Cleats are on The Way
NEIRAD enilno edition
Load printer friendly version
A few weeks ago, the DHS Varsity Football Team destroyed Bassick by a score of 43 to 14. The game was at the brink of unfair, since the opposition seemed to have about half the number of players that Darien had. This immense difference between the athletic programs of Darien High School and Bassick High School is what has caused professional trainer Anthony West to start a program at Bassick called Fairfield County Leader’s Group. This free training program works to improve the athlete’s physical and mental skills in sports.
“I wanted to get rid of all the stereotypes,” the Bridgeport native said about why he initially started the program. West described the stereotypes working in two ways. First the Bassick students’ stereotype of Darien is, as West described, “where all the rich white kids are.” The Darien students’ stereotype of Bassick kids is, “where all the poor black kids are.” West said that the kids, “are comfortable in their own environments,” which is causing the kids to remain distant from each other and therefore lead to constant stereotypes.
West’s training program is directed towards his plan to, “bring them together and let them know that they are both good people.” He intends for the training to have kids from Darien interact with the kids at Norwalk so that these students at Bassick may become more determined.
Bassick High School does not have the resources, West said, which greatly contributes to the problem of getting these kids
motivated. Some kids don’t even have cleats, and have to play football in sneakers. “Imagine playing with sneakers, since you can’t afford cleats?”
The problem, West said, was that, “a lot of kids are extremely talented and have the potential, but they don’t know. They just don’t understand.” He says the kids at Bassick don’t understand that they can still succeed even though they may come from a poor family.
The Fairfield County Leader’s Group is aimed at finding ways to help the kids understand. West’s intention is that through the training, these talented athletes will become more motivated, and know that they can still be as good, if not better, than the kids in Darien. This, he hopes, will finally get rid of the stereotypes.
Anthony West believes that a free training program will cause these athletes to improve mentally and physically. In describing one student who was extremely talented but never went anywhere, West said, “he didn’t know a trainer could take him into and past college.” As a trainer in Weston, West knows through experience the necessity in training individuals at the ages of 16, and 17. This is the time when students are making the first important decisions in their life, and West believes working with a trainer can greatly change their mentality. “When you work out, people look at you different. It makes you more aware of your actions in what you eat and do.”
This is the essence of Anthony West’s plan for the future of his training program. It has not started yet, since at the first meeting, nobody showed up. “This is free personal training and no-one showed up,” West said. This presents the mentality of Bassick students, which West describes as “they don’t think forward, they think backwards.” However, with the second attempt at starting the program scheduled a few weeks, Anthony West plans to completely revolutionize the future of these athletes.
