The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘Build a Bridge Challenge’ in Canton a success
A.J. Shorts’ heart was pounding a mile-a-minute as he took a deep breath to speak at the “Build the Bridge Challenge” kickoff event at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on June 23.
The senior quarterback at Brush was nervous — but not as nervous as he was weeks ago when he and his father were approached by police at a local park where they were training.
Shorts and his father, Rev. Cecil Shorts, had just finished their running exercises and were about to begin throwing passes when a police cruiser approached the two black men.
The officer, who Shorts said was also black, said they had received a phone call that the Shorts were at the park selling drugs.
“That was pretty eyeopening,” Shorts said of the day at the park.
His story was one of the many that were shared at the “Build a Bridge Challenge” kickoff event, a drive started in early June by Cleveland Heights assistant football coach Kahari Hicks.
The goal of the program is to bring majority white schools and majority black schools together for sevenon-seven scrimmages and a meal in coming weeks. On a larger scale, the “Build a Bridge Challenge” is to combat racism through communication, understanding and relationships.
Which is what prompted Shorts to share his story in front of a room full of high school football players and coaches he likely would have never met if not for Hicks’ program.
“I was nervous to speak up about it,” he said. “I didn’t think other kids would understand. But once I got it off my chest, it was a big weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Thirty schools were represented at the “Build a Bridge” Challenge kickoff event in Canton on June 23, including area schools Beachwood, Brush, Benedictine, Mayfield, Kirtland, Lake Catholic, Euclid, North and South.
Each school was represented by a coach and two players.
Even more schools have
reached out to Hicks to participate in the program going forward.
The group on June 23 was divided into three groups, which toured the Hall of Fame, gathered for talks and discussion on racial issues.
“It was awesome — really awesome,” said Brush coach Eddie Hall of the day’s events. “When the kids got there, they started talking to each other and figured out they like the same stuff — football, video games, pizza, things like that.
“Football is a common bond that binds us. Everyone there was openly talking. They are hard discussions, hard conversations to have. But they had them.”
Hall brought not only Shorts with him, but also
Da’Quan Ross.
Lake Catholic coach Marty Gibbons brought Cougars players Simon Taraska and Alexis Pacheco to the event. Gibbons said the blending of rural, urban and suburban players allowed for kids from different residential areas to talk and learn about each other “It was amazing,” Taraska said, lauding Hicks’ efforts to bring together players and coaches from different areas to tackle the issues of racism. “We all have different experiences. This gave kids a platform to talk about what they’ve been through and most importantly how we can change what’s going on in our country.” Mayfield coach Ross Bandiera was on hand along with Wildcats players
Anthony Mangelluzzi and Steven Daugherty. Bandiera said he had a long talk also with Warren Harding coach Steve Arnold.
“It’s good seeing coaches and players getting together and talking,” he said. “It was a good day to bridge this gap.”
South assistant T.J. Lett was accompanied by players Ira Sampson and Jack Barnowski, while Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde had Joey Grazia and Mason Sullivan with him.
“It was very well done,” LaVerde said. “Kahari Hicks ... a lot of people talk about doing things to help our country, but here’s a guy who instead of talking about it is doing something about it.”
As part of the “Build a Bridge Challenge,” participating
schools will play a 7-on-7 this summer — when/if social distancing guidelines are loosened enough to do so. Among those school pairings are Euclid and Avon, Kirtland and Shaker Heights and South and Glenville. Teams will have a 7-on-7 together, dinner together and fellowship to learn more about each other not only as football players, but as people.
“When we go to Shaker, we’ll play dodgeball, workout together, eat, play some football ...” LaVerde said. “These kids find out how similar they are. They like cell phones, they like to work out, they like to eat pizza and have a good time.
“This building a bridge event shows these kids how similar they are.”