BTSPhilly: Articles, Events, In Their Shoes, My Story

Eat Better, Live Better, Perform Better

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…

BTSPhilly: Articles, In Their Shoes, My Story

Ernest Holland – In their shoes

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…

BTSPhilly: Articles, In Their Shoes, My Story

In Their Shoes – Aboubakare Diaby

“The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for.” Being a First Generation American: Aboubakare Diaby Being born in the United States is a privilege not many people get. Fortunately, me and my 7 siblings are some of those few. My parents immigrated to the U.S from the country of Mali in the 1993 envisioning the American Dream; but they’ve struggled to establish themselves in this country. Moving here wasn’t easy for them, in fact, it was probably the hardest decision they ever had to make. Due to financial restrictions, the decision to move to the United States required them to leave their first child behind. At the time, my older brother was only 4 years old. With no viable alternatives, my parents left my brother in the care of my grandmother and haven’t been in physical contact with their son since. I can’t imagine being put in my brother's position, nor my parents. Growing up without parents, especially through childhood & adolescence, is tough sometimes for me to wrap my head around. Since moving to the United States, my family has experienced a lot together and through it all I have learned a lot. Having parents who managed to support me and my siblings no matter how tight money was has taught me dedication. Learning to separate the necessity of things like food and clothing from discretionary things like a new phone or the latest game system has taught me discipline, and seeing my parents scrape by each month just to provide for their kids has taught me the true meaning of hard work. My mom and dad have always taught me never to shy away…

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It is only through the generous support of our donors that we are able to further our mission of establishing youth wrestling programs throughout the Philadelphia Metropolitan region. Our goal is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for inner city underprivileged and at-risk youth and this is not possible without your financial support of our organization.

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BTSPhilly: Articles, In Their Shoes, My Story

In Their Shoes – Aboubakare Diaby

Dan Altomare: Articles, In Their Shoes, My Story

In Their Shoes – Angel Garcia

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. (1 Corinthians 13:11) I was born in Fajardo; a large town in eastern Puerto Rico. When I was 2 years old, my…

Dan Altomare: Articles, In Their Shoes, My Story

In Their Shoes-Khasim Mu’min

“The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.” - Samuel Smiles I’m from…

Dan Altomare: Articles, In Their Shoes, My Story

In Their Shoes – Ron Palmer

My name is Ron Palmer. I am a 2016 graduate from Mariana Bracetti High School where I was a 4-year wrestler, 3-time Public League champion, 2-time District 12 champion, and MBA's first 1st 2-time Academic All-American. Currently, I go to Kutztown University of Pennsylvania where I’m a member of the wrestling team and I’m majoring…

BTSPhilly: Articles, In Their Shoes, Wrestler of the Month

February’s Wrestler of the Month: Samirah Conners-Reed

Samirah Conners-Reed was faced with a dilemma at the end of the season. She was unsure of whether to enter the beginners or advanced bracket at the Beat the Streets youth tournament. By all accounts she was a beginner, not even having completed a full season of wrestling yet. However, her dominance in the practice room…

BTSPhilly: In Their Shoes, My Story

Summer Training Makes Winter Champions by Jared Johnson

My name is Jared Johnson. I began wrestling in the 7th grade at Martin Luther King youth. Because of my continuation of training at PAL during the offseason when I was in eighth grade, I made connections with my current school, Roman Catholic High School. Every year that I wrestled in the summer I got…