Ricardo is a current coach with Beat the Streets Philadelphia who was a former participant with our program at Edison High School. He has devoted countless hours to helping support young student-athletes across the city so that they would have similar opportunities as he did and in hopes that they might develop the same passion to succeed that he has adopted.
From the very start it was clear that Ricardo has the talent to be successful in the classroom and on the mat. His coaches worked with him regularly to help him realize his potential on both fronts, but early on he was not responding with the necessary work ethic. Slowly, but surely he started to buy into the message that coaches and other mentors within Beat the Streets Philadelphia were promoting involving hard work having a direct impact on success in all areas of one’s life. He played a key role on the mat in helping Edison with the first ever Philadelphia Public League Championship and more importantly he developed a mentality that would allow him to succeed in whatever environment he was placed.
Upon graduating from high school Ricardo became directly involved as a coach with Beat the Streets Philadelphia. Through this involvement he has developed a passion for physical fitness and youth development. He is now attending Eastern University where he has applied the work ethic he developed on the mat and currently holds a 3.2 GPA while he works towards a degree in Physical Training.
In Ricardo’s words “before getting into wrestling I never really had a passion for anything in particular. I played other sports, but never had the desire to continue because I did not feel challenged. Now I wake up and think of ways that I can support others through wrestling. I am an avid fan that watches as many matches as possible so that I can develop a stronger understand to help younger wrestlers. If it were not for Beat the Streets I would not have had the opportunity to experience this level of passion. They allow me to travel to new places and have allowed me to build great relationships with great people. Beat the Streets has done countless things for me and I will always be involved with this organization. I plan to earn my degree and find ways to give back which will only be a small percentage of what they have done for me.”
The passion that Ricardo developed will ultimately lead him down a path of success and has translated directly into motivation to take advantage of opportunities in his life. Beat the Streets Philadelphia played a role in stoking that passion and we are fortunate to have him involved giving back to other participants.