SYNERGY Sports Conference 2006

Panelist Reggie Berry Reggie Berry founded the Goals for Life Foundation in 1989. The trained Retired-NFL Players spend 24 weeks in a given school, working regularly with at-risk youngsters. "Many of these kids have never had strong role models, so we can offer them a mentor," Berry is quoted as saying. Today, severe drug abuse and crime involving youth are almost the ordinary, with newspaper headlines reporting younger and younger ages of those committing the violence and their victims. In 1975, when National Football League cornerback Reggie Berry retired from professional football, those problems, seemed largely elsewhere — confined to the worst of the inner cities. Berry took a job at the Miller Brewing Company selling beer. That might have been the last career move for some players. Berry however is the kind of person who loves to learn. And he soon learned that of all alcoholic beverages, beer sent the most teenagers to the grave. The fact was revelatory, but ever more so, it inspired him to attempted to deter children from alcohol and drug abuse. In so doing he put them on a more meaningful path in life. Berry had to go where the kids most at risk are; he changed the course of his life to become a teacher. After receiving his credentials, Berry’s career as a traditional teacher lasted only a few years. He was a good teacher, but an even more natural mentor. By 1989 he had gravitated toward a position that allowed him to help youth in a more personal way, especially the ones in the worst socioeconomic band. He joined the program that helped migrant workers’ children. It was federally funded and operated on a strict mandate concerning who could benefit. It was a positive program, Berry says, but it fell short of the mark when a young girl outside the program’s mandate came to him for help. She confided in Berry that both her father and brother were molesting her. When Berry informed program administrators that he was taking the girl into his class, he was told that he could not. He did anyway. "Plain Good Coaching" Berry’s solution for the girl was a temporary one for a bigger problem he was becoming aware of. Government-funded programs tend to limit help for one or another "type" of boy or girl by reason of their funding mandates — and invariably some slipped through the cracks. Berry decided that a flexible program with an open-door policy was needed. Not finding a group that met his expectations, in 1989, with personal funds, he founded his own: Goals for Life. Berry contacted Frank Woschitz, president of the National Football League Players Association, and laid out his strategy for Goals for Life. Berry believed he was not the only pro football player that felt the need to work with children. He also believed that football players are themselves ideal coaches — the kind that really make the difference. Finally, he had limitless belief in the ability of any kid to rise above any barrier that thwarted their goals — providing there was a strategy and follow through. His Goals for Life Program would bring all these fundamentals of the gridiron directly to the lives of troubled teens by coaching them to succeed in school and in life. The program would demand hard work and dedication from kids who participated, both - boys and girls — "the kind of determination required of football pros, " Berry explained to Woschitz. Woschitz liked the plan and got the National Football League Players Association behind it. Now in its 16th year, "Goals for Life," is reaching as many as 10,000 youth a year. Some of the notables who work with children through the program are Elston Ridgle and Leo Gray of the Raiders, Carver Shannon, Lucious Smith and Reggie Doss of the Rams, Rick Ellis of the Sea Hawks and Cephus Weatherspoon of the Saints. The athletes and others working with the program meet with small groups of students on a regular basis at various schools in Los Angeles. Drawing on their personal experiences in sports and in life, they speak to the youth of the enthusiasm, drive and determination that helped them reach their own goal. They point out that what applies to sports also applies to education. They get each student to clarify goals they want to achieve in life, and instill a sense of dedication and determination about achieving those goals. They demand hard work of the students towards achieving those goals and give them examples of how to stay the course despite frustrations and setbacks in school or in their personal lives. The athletes spend 24 weeks in a given school, working on a regular basis with at-risk youth. "The program arms the kids with personal strategies that override support mechanisms they lack elsewhere, including lack of parental support," he says. "It enables them to reach their goals." Berry explains that the first step is always "good old-fashioned listening, no impromptu advice allowed. The point is that the kids need to know that you are tuned in to them. That means their views and ideas as well as their concerns and triumphs must be important to you." Conference FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2006 - 9:00 am - 2:00 pm Four workshops Conference Fee - FREE with pre-registration $ 20.00 at the door. Mail Payment to: NAAAA-SYNERGY 2006 P.O. Box 15602 Los Angeles, CA 90015 Information: 213-742-6523 Back to Conference Index Seating is limited register early! Held at the La Meridian Hotel at Beverly Hills  465 S La Cienega Blvd,  Beverly Hills, CA 90048 Registration Form