Author: BTSPhilly

College Knowledge – Bucknell Campus Visit

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In the city of Philadelphia just 68% of Freshman will go on to graduate on time: of that group of graduating seniors only 55% will enroll in college during the following fall semester. Compare that to the Pennsylvania graduation rate of 86% and college enrollment of 70%. Percentages are showing that Philadelphia is clearly under performing in these key areas of education outcomes. Another way to look at these percentages is by looking at a sample size of 100 freshman students. In Philadelphia 68 will graduate on time with 37 out of the original 100 enrolling in college the following fall semester: compared to 60 out of 100 freshman from Pennsylvania. In other words a freshman from a school in Pennsylvania is almost twice as likely to attend college after graduation as a freshman from the city of Philadelphia. The good news is BTSP student athletes are already outperforming their peers in these performance measures. 98% of BTSP student athletes graduate on time with 71% post secondary enrollment rate! Unfortunately that isn’t the end of the story, because despite these compelling statistics there are other challenges that need to be considered.

As a youth development organization, BTSP has the unique ability to serve young men and women, of all ages and athletic abilities. With 28 locations throughout the greater Philadelphia region and our BTSP Mentoring Center located in the heart of Upenn and Drexel campuses in University City. Using the sport of wrestling as a shared experience, deep relationships are formed. Thanks to our strong partnership with Penn and Drexel Wrestling programs the majority of our 1:1 mentoring matches are created between Division I college wrestlers and BTSP High school student-athletes from vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds. As these relationships are fostered individuals often discovered they have much more in common than wrestling, while also realizing some things were absolutely different. 
A majority of BTSP students-athletes come from schools that are not fully equipped to handle guidance counseling and many families do not have the necessary experience and or resources to explore their post secondary options properly. Unlike BTSP student-athletes, it’s very common for the Penn and Drexel wrestlers to have visited multiple campuses before making a final decision on where they would pursue their post secondary journey. To the contrary many BTSP student-athletes report making their final decision without ever formally visiting any campuses! 

BTSP is committed to address the limited access by offering ten trips to fifteen college campuses during the 2019-20 school year.

The first of which occurred this past week with a private tour of Bucknell University, by the University’s Head Wrestling Coach Dan Wirnsberger, Alumni William Graham and active Bucknell wrestlers Zach Hartman and Brandon Seidman. Thanks to the compassionate network of wrestlers throughout Pennsylvania and across the nation, BTSP is positioned to continue creating unique experiences catered to the individual needs of BTSP student-athletes. These formal college campus visits when aligned with quality athletic programming and academic mentoring including SAT / ACT prep will ensure we can continue to push the mission of positively altering life’s trajectory forward for each and every student we serve.If you are interested in getting involved in the mission please consider supporting our annual fund, or by becoming a volunteer.  

To make a one time or recurring gift please visit our Donate Page.

More on William Graham’s Blog on From the Mat to the Boardroom: Wrestling Lessons for Business Success
More on Bucknell’s Wrestling Program

June Wrestler of the Month – Jasintai “T” Mallqui

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Throughout the past couple of years there has been a boom in girls wrestling and with the help of PAL (the Police Athletic League), Beat the Streets Philadelphia has continued that trend by committing to girls-specific programming. Ed Schneider, who has coached at PAL for over 30 years, had this to say about the future of girls wrestling, 
 

“In the 1980s, it was extremely rare for a girl to participate in what has traditionally been a male-dominated sport. In the last 10 years, wrestling for women has expanded exponentially, with some states creating high school programs. And even within the past few years, opportunities for girls to receive college scholarships for wrestling has dramatically increased.” 

 
The womens’ wrestling community is growing rapidly & with amazingly talented girls emerging around the nation, all signs indicate that women’s wrestling is here to stay! One of those incredibly talented girls, Jasintai Mallqui, is this month’s BTSP featured student-athlete!
 
Jasintai Mallqui, or just ‘Tai’ for short, is a wrestler who trains at the Rizzo PAL Center and Camden Panthers; among other clubs. Recently, Tai won a prestigious title in freestyle competing at 39kg at the UWW U15 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Most people only dream of wrestling at such a high level, let alone finding such a high level of success. An accomplishment of that magnitude at such a young age is truly remarkable. In addition to a world championship, Jasintai has many other accomplishments. In 2018, Tai was runner-up at the Novice Women’s Freestyle Nationals and she won the title at the 2019 Women’s USA Folkstyle Nationals. Tai is a leader in every sense of the word; exemplifying hard work, helping other wrestlers around her, and acutely focused throughout practice day in and day out. We reached out to Jasintai to ask her simply what she enjoys about the sport. Her answer was short, but sweet:
 

“I like everything about wrestling, it’s fun and I like beating up boys. I get better at how to defend myself.” – Jasintai Mallqui

 
As Tai continues to grow as a person and an athlete shes leading the way for younger girls to follow in her footsteps. 
 
If you are interested in creating opportunities for other young wrestlers like Tai, you can visit our donate now page here.

May Wrestler of the Month – Jameel Coles

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Jameel Coles took the wrestling world by storm this past spring making his first trip to PIAA state championships a memorable one. He beat undefeated state college wrestler, Cole Urbas, who was ranked fourth in the nation at that time by Flowrestling. Jameel went on to say this about his performance, “I know that if I keep a cool head, cool mind and show my opponent that no matter how long the periods are, no matter how long the match is I’m still going to push the pace to show my opponent that I’m physically and mentally strong.” Jameel showed tons of grit throughout the tournament earning a fifth place finish.
 

“It shows that no matter where we come from we still put in the hard work and that we can compete with anyone” – Jameel Coles

 
Rolling into freestyle and greco-roman wrestling with style after placing in the PIAA state wrestling championships in March, Jameel is in high hopes of making a statement in Fargo, North Dakota at the US Marine Corps Junior Nationals. After taking a couple of years off from wrestling freestyle and greco-roman, he boasted a championship in both styles at the PAWF State Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling Tournament to earn a qualifying spot for Fargo. That time off did not affect Jameel as much as some would think. He wrestled with the Pennsylvania Cadet National Dual Team prior to his break from olympic style wrestling. As one can see, it does not take Jameel long to get back into the flow of things and he’s a big believer of hard work.
 
Jameel is exploring post-graduate opportunities, but his decision has not yet been made. We fully support any decision that he makes in the upcoming year! The staff at BTSP and the student-athlete participants wish Jameel good luck as he ventures out to North Dakota in hopes to all-american at one of the United States’ toughest high school tournaments.
 
Donations can be made on our Donate Now page

Organizations Alike

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Beat The Streets Philadelphia (BTSP) pairs up with other great organizations, such as Revolution Foods, Child Care Resources, and the United States Marine Corps (USMC), to positively alter life’s trajectory. Through our partnership with the USMC, we are teaching kids leadership, grit, and team values with support from the marines. The camp takes place each year in March designed for students enrolled in high school. Technique is taught by various coaches and marines with conditioning to wrap things up. Staff sergeant and officer selection recruiter Johnathan Morris had this to say about the participants, “When they’re taking these kids and they’re developing for them a drive and a want to be successful. It resonates with me as a United States marine because the battles that they face on the wrestling mat are similar to the personal battles that we face at boot camp.” The battles that wrestlers face on the mat foster foundational values, such as integrity, determination, and discipline, that they can continue to build on throughout their lives.

“With the rigor of athletic development it’s a big deal for the marines to be involved with programs in the city like BTS” – Wayne Thurman, Executive Director, USMC Leadership Academy

We are thankful to have the marines partner with us to help continue our mission of positively altering life’s trajectory. Partnerships like this allow the staff here at BTSP to make such an immense impact on the surrounding athletes in Philadelphia. To show kids there is more out there in the world than what they see in their respective neighborhoods.

Eat Better, Live Better, Perform Better

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Beat the Streets Philadelphia (BTSP) has always operated under the belief that our whole is greater than the sum of our parts. In that, working collectively with positive community partners to help benefit the youth of Philadelphia is the most effective method for accomplishing our mission.

A great example of this stems from the combined efforts of Beat the Streets Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Regional Training Center (PRTC), The University of Pennsylvania, & Drexel University, commonly referred to as the Philadelphia Wrestling Ecosystem. Our collective efforts to grow Philadelphia wrestling have resulted in both individual successes and collective ones. Specific to BTSP, these partnerships have allowed the organization to grow from just three youth programs in 2009, to thirty!

“Our staff, wrestlers, and alumni believe wholeheartedly in BTSP’s mission of Positively Altering Life’s Trajectory for the thousands of kids and families that BTSP serves, and we stand committed in all ways to contribute to the effort” – Roger Reina, UPenn Head Wrestling Coach

Building on this belief, we are proud to officially announce working alongside Revolution Foods and Child Care Resources (CCR) to address the needs of BTSP student athletes in a more complete way. Revolution Foods is a company who doesn’t just deliver healthy meal choices to schools and other organizations all over the country, it also educates the youth on making healthier nutritional choices. With the use of surveys and cooking demonstrations their goal is to get kids excited about eating healthy. Unfortunately throughout Philadelphia, kids often lack access to proper nutrition and knowledge about healthy eating choices. Many local super markets don’t offer necessary healthy options, and those that do are understandably expensive. There are even some areas without access to grocery stores, often referred to as “food deserts,” existing throughout Philadelphia. Recently, a Philadelphia non-profit organization called The Food Trust has been working hard to make grocery stores accessible for those residing in food deserts. The Food Trust claims that, “For more than 40 years, residents of North Philadelphia’s East Germantown neighborhood had no reasonable place to buy healthy, affordable food. The nearest grocery store was a 20-minute bus ride away.” For many residents in Philadelphia, that trip is costly to their budget and walking to and from the store with grocery bags is not much of an option. 

An article published on Generocity’s website outlines the statistic that “1 in 5 Philadelphians suffer from food insecurity.” Food insecurity is defined as the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. We know that as a student-athlete it is important to get the proper nutrition needed to perform at the highest level. By providing kids with healthier meal choices, they are able to power through their day with higher rates of academic and athletic success. With the help of Revolution Foods, BTSP was able to provide roughly 24,000 snacks and 16,000 nutritious meals for our student-athletes through our Mentoring Center & Belmont Charter school program.

“Revolution Foods is thrilled to be working with Beat the Streets and Child Care Resources, to bring fresh, healthy meals to their athletes. As a fellow mission driven organization, we were so inspired by the work Beat the Streets is doing in the Philadelphia Community. They challenge their athletes to improve both mentally, through their tutoring, and physically on the mat. To ensure these athletes have the proper fuel to take on these challenges, we are working with CCR to provide each athlete with a free meal and snack daily. ” – Marcy Cuneo, Revolution Food

We are certainly proud of our emerging relationship with Revolution Foods, to help us better serve our student-athletes through our Mentoring Center. Overall, we’re very grateful for the strong community partners we have had the opportunity to work alongside. As we continue to grow, we look forward to both strengthening these relationships & creating new ones as we continue Positively Alter Life’s Trajectory and serve our kids in the best way possible!

In addition to relying on powerful partnerships, BTSP also relies heavily on support from donors. If you’re interested in supporting our efforts of ‘Positively Altering Life’s Trajectory’ please visit our donation page.
If you’d like to consider contributing to our cause in other ways, please also consider giving your time as a mentor or coach!

This is not Goodbye, but See You Later

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Beat the Streets Philadelphia (BTSP) has been working with South Philadelphia High School for six years. Throughout those years we have worked closely with Athletic Director Roscoe Natale, who has been nothing but determined to help impact the lives of the students around him. Throughout his time at South Philly High, he has worked tirelessly to improve their athletic programs and facilities. He even played a role in the creation of South Philly High’s wrestling program, who went undefeated during their 2016-2017 season.
BTSP’s core values of grit, compassion, service, and team are qualities that staff and program participants aim to live by, having strong community partners that also embody those values is of great importance. Roscoe has been one of those partners for quite some time. He exceeded his duties as an athletic director, not only serving and helping the kids at his school, but the youth as a whole in Philadelphia by opening the gymnasium, providing space for BTSP events. Every year BTSP hosts an annual “Philly Youth Wrestle Day” tournament at South Philly High. The tournament features 16 teams, with boys and girls ranging from K-8th grade. For years this event has brought young athletes and the surrounding community together. Roscoe sacrificed his weekends to help with the planning and logistics that go into running the tournament. Dan Altomare, director of wrestling has worked closely with Roscoe the past two years and expressed how vital Roscoe’s involvement had been, “He went above and beyond to help out with our youth events, getting his hands dirty rolling up mats and whatever else needed to be done.”
Roscoe intends to carry on what he started by making sure that someone who knows wrestling is present at South Philly High. That someone is the current wrestling and football coach, Rob Schloss. Roscoe will forever be remembered for what he has done for BTSP as we continue to work with South Philly High to make a positive impact on the Philadelphia wrestling ecosystem.
 

“Definitely going to be missed as someone who cannot easily be replaced”- James Mangan

 
After many years at South Philadelphia High, Roscoe is finally retiring. Roscoe will definitely be missed, but we know wherever you go you will continue to make a positive impact on those around you. You’re truly one of a kind, thank you for all you have done for us at BTSP, the kids, and the surrounding community. We wish you nothing but success in the future!

Ernest Holland – In their shoes

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Hey my name is Ernest Holland, Aka Ernesto. I’m from West Philadelphia, I’ve been a Beat the Streets wrestler since 2010, and I’m currently a freshman at Temple University. I just want to start by saying thank you all for taking the time to read this and for helping to create and support a great organization like Beat the Streets which has really become a family to me.
In elementary school, I grew up with a single parent who was in charge of 8 kids total. As you can imagine I didn’t have access to all the new toys or gadgets other kids had at my age. Yeah I had the obama phone and it was dang good too but the point is that we had a hard time as a family. Even though I had very little, I cherished my mom and grandma, and when grandma passed away it was one of the worst times of my life. My grandmother was my best friend and her passing made it nearly impossible to stay engaged in school and to stay out of trouble. My grades began to slip because I didn’t want to do anything. I was sad…and i just wanted to give up. On top of that tragedy, I was witnessing shootings, robberies and other types of violence in the neighborhood on a regular basis. All of this made me feel angry which led me to get in trouble for fighting frequently. I felt horrible about slipping grades and getting in trouble, because I could see that I was letting my Mom down.
It was like a spot of light came through a tunnel of darkness when Coach Mccabe told us that there was going to be a wrestling team added to the school. I remember it like it was yesterday because we were the first program to ever be a part of Beat the Streets in Philadelphia. It was so exciting because it was the first time this sport was brought to life in our area…it was amazing! When we had our first practice Coach Mccabe said first thing “you guys are gonna keep your grades up and you cannot get in trouble if you want to wrestle”. Instantly I knew that if I wanted to do this sport, I had to be the best that I could in the classroom and in life.
My 9 years with Beat The Streets have been full of incredible memories. I got to travel with the All-Star wrestling team, competing in Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey…etc. I got to lead the way for Belmont wrestlers by being the first state placer for my middle school. I had the opportunity to wrestle in the big Time Square New York, and even meeting Olympic Gold medalist Jordan Burroughs. I wrestled in the Cadet Duals for freestyle. I had the opportunity to meet and learn from some of the best wrestlers and coaches in the country, like Olympic coach Brandon Slay. We went on college tours and did summer camps which definitely gave me the college experience and helped me figure out my path. I feel grateful to have had these experiences and to have built friendships that I never thought I would make. This eventually influenced my decision of my college career choice. Which was studying with the major of entrepreneurship and eventually traveling all over the world trying to expand a business that has relations with film production,thanks to Pooya, my mentor for helping me with my essay for college. He helped craft it together to making it a masterpiece. That’s what I called it…he helped me get into to one of my top schools, receiving an academic scholarship and having to pay less money and this semester no money due to grants and scholarships.
My years as a wrestler for Beat The Streets has made me wise, like the owl I am today…get it guys…cause I go to Temple (crowd laughs). During those times in middle school I’ve learned a lot of things. The program has made me the way I am today  because it not only helped me learn the sport of wrestling but it also taught me how to keep my composure, show sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility, believe in myself and so much more. Thanks to Mccabe I’ve really realized that you have to work hard, and you have to grind in order to really reach your goal. That lesson was very impactful and I’m truly grateful for having somebody like him guide me throughout my journey. I would probably not be here talking to you guys if it wasn’t for him.
Maybe the most important lesson that I learned is to be selfless, to think about others that need help and that it’s not just about me; because even with what I have been through, there’s always someone going through worse. This lesson is what motivates me to help out the younger BTS wrestlers in the mentoring center and on the mat. I went from being bad little knucklehead from West Philadelphia in a not so good neighborhood that gets into trouble all the time, to a guy who is striving to make a positive impact on society.
Reflecting on all of those great memories makes me proud to have been a part of the first BTS program in Philadelphia; I got the chance to see how we started with supporting a couple of local schools, to building our mentoring center from the ground up, and to helping out nearly every school in the Philadelphia area to prevent local kids from getting hurt on these streets.   There are millions of kids just like me who need your help, so thank you to everyone for supporting this organization, for supporting this family.
 

BTSP Student-Athletes Making History

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BTSP Student-Athletes Making History
During Penn Wrestling’s long and storied history it has recorded many firsts; including crowning the first national champion, joining the first intercollegiate wrestling association as an inaugural member, and playing host to the first collegiate wrestling tournament. So, on Sunday December 2nd, as Penn hosted Maryland for a dual meet inside the historic Palestra it seemed only fitting that another historic moment took place.
On Sunday, two young men in Jon Guevara (Penn) & Idris White (UMD) suited up on either side of the mat; both of whom learned to wrestle through the Beat the Streets Philadelphia (BTSP) program. Idris & Jon are both outstanding role models and fantastic examples of BTSP student-athletes continuing on a path of altered life trajectory.
Like many BTSP student-athletes Idris White grew up in an under resourced, economically depressed section of Philadelphia. At the time, opportunities to participate in sports-based youth development programs were limited to more popular sports like football, basketball & baseball. Idris wasn’t particularly interested in those sports, however. In 2007, his father found a small wrestling program operating in the basement of a Police Athletic League recreation center in Port Richmond. At the time this was the only free wrestling club available in a city of nearly 1.5 million. Coincidentally, 2007 was also the year that the formation of BTSP began (we would later become officially established in 2009 and partnered with PAL shortly thereafter). As he tells it, Idris fell in love with the sport of wrestling almost immediately. Idris’ talent & passion for wrestling opened up scholarship opportunities for him to attend private high school at Father Judge. As a junior he finished 7th at the PIAA state championships, an accomplishment that garnered interest from a number of Division I wrestling coaches.
For Jon Guevara, wrestling didn’t enter his life until his freshman year at Central High School. By that time, BTSP had grown to develop a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia; supporting all of the teams competing in the Philadelphia Public League. Despite Jon’s incredible work ethic and dedication to the sport, his season always ended at the NE Regional Tournament, one round shy of the State Championships. Jon’s goals were always bigger than wrestling. As a first-generation American, Jon was determined to be the first in his family to attend college; and not just any college. Jon was fully intent on attending the University of Pennsylvania. He took the initiative to enlist the help of mentors at Beat the Streets Philadelphia. Those mentors helped him with SAT/ACT test prep and helped him to navigate the college application process. In 2015, Jon received his acceptance letter from the University of Pennsylvania; that’s when he raised the bar even further and set his sights on becoming a Penn Wrestler. Last month, during the 2018 Keystone Classic, Jon recorded his first collegiate win in a Penn singlet!
With Idris and Jon having different journeys, their paths rarely crossed in high school despite graduated from Philadelphia high schools in the same year. However, their common experience of being Beat the Streets wrestlers linked the two together as they made history being the first two BTSP wrestlers to suit up for opposing Division I wrestling teams. Idris and Jon represent the mission and goals of Beat the Streets Philly as their participation has positively altered life’s trajectory. Both young men have exemplified the BTSP core values of grit, compassion, service and team. Idris and Jon are pioneers and role models that current and future Beat the Streets program participants, proving that bold goals can be accomplished. When passion meets purpose the outcome is life altering!
The Beat the Streets Wrestling Program of Philadelphia is committed to establishing youth wrestling programs in the Philadelphia metropolitan region. The organization fosters the holistic development of student-athletes by providing the resources to support wrestling and an academic mentoring programs throughout the greater Philadelphia region.
Beat the Streets Philadelphia was founded on the principle that all children have the potential to become productive citizens when provided the proper support. This belief has endured since the establishment of our first program in 2008 located in the city of Camden, NJ. To this day, the organization remains laser focused on running wrestling and mentoring based youth development programs for underprivileged student-athletes that alter the trajectory of their lives.

May Bethea, Program Development Associate

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Beat the Streets Philadelphia (BTSP) is excited to announce the recent addition of May Bethea as part-time Program Development Associate. A 2018 graduate from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Sociology, May is familiar with the mission and values of BTSP as well as the unique nature of the Philadelphia wrestling ecosystem. May will work directly with the BTSP executive staff to improve and grow BTSP mentoring and wrestling youth development programs, manage social media content, and support fund development initiatives. In addition to his employment with BTSP, May has also been recently named the Director of Wrestling Operations with Penn Wrestling; providing increased synergy between the two organizations.

“I have always been passionate about wrestling and academics. BTSP provides me the opportunity to serve in a way that is meaningful to me” – May Bethea

Born and raised in Trenton, May is the youngest of eight siblings; six brothers and two sisters. Parents Gloria and Alex Bethea instilled the student-athlete mentality by balancing sport and education in harmony. All nine of the Bethea children participated in youth sports. May leveraged that upbringing by becoming a 3x NJ state place winner while wrestling at Trenton High School. That success provided a pathway to continue his pursuit of higher education and athletics at the University of Pennsylvania. Not to be overshadowed by his four older Penn Alumni brothers (three former Penn Grapplers); May became a 3x NCAA National Championships qualifier, 2x team Co-Captain, and unanimous 1st Team All-Ivy wrestler.
 
You can find a complete list of Staff and Board members here.
Help support the BTSP mission of “positively altering life’s trajectory” consider making a gift at: Donate Now

New Director of Wrestling Dan Altomare

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Dan is a familiar face to the Beat the Streets Philadelphia program. He has been involved for a number of years and taken on various roles at BTSP. In 2014 he began helping with Beat the Streets while still in college at Temple University. His first role with Beat the Streets was as a volunteer coach at PAL. Having wrestled for Council Rock South, Dan felt very impacted by the sport of wrestling and enjoys having the opportunity to give back to the sport as best he can.
After Dan graduated from Temple in 2015, and he continued to stay actively involved with Beat the Streets programs. Dan would continue to help with both mentoring and wrestling. Among his roles he has been a coach, mentor, intern, and now full-time wrestling director. Since November 2017, Dan has been serving as the Director of Wrestling in an interim capacity.

“I just enjoy working with the kids,” Dan explained when asked why he is so dedicated to the program. “I believe in the fact that wrestling teaches life lessons that are unique. I have seen it work for the kids, and I want to be a part of it.”

Dan is truly committed to our mission of Positively Altering Life’s Trajectory. We believe that he will help continue to improve and grow our wrestling programs in his new role as Director of Wrestling.