ATHLETES ACCEPT THE #BELIEVEINYOUCHALLENGE
Former Manhattan College standout Kevin Atlas wows local athletes at Columbia High School
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. » Things were never easy for former Manhattan College center Kevin Atlas, born with a disability, cut from his seventhgrade basketball team, having his parents’ divorce early in life and losing his father to cancer at the age of 10. Nothing could stop him. He believed in himself, his own abilities despite his own disability being born with one arm and he has now dedicated himself to sharing his ideas and asking high school student-athletes to believe in themselves as well as their peers.
Atlas, 29, now tours the world sharing his message and after teaming up with Varsity Brands to bring his Believe in You Tour to Columbia High School and have student-athletes be a part of his #BelieveinYouChallenge.
Born without a fully developed left arm, severed in the womb due to his umbilical cord being twice wrapped around his neck and arm, Atlas was different from other kids. His parents looked for activities to help corral his own ADD/HD and basketball became a passion as a young
adult.
But then he was told ‘No.’ His seventh-grade high school basketball coach told him after tryouts that basketball was a ‘two-handed sport.’
The then red-headed man-child didn’t give up and went to play AAU Basketball at a neighboring town. There he was challenged to utilize his left arm, all that he had and be a better basketball player. He did. After three years of high school basketball and a year at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia he was awarded a scholarship to Manhattan College, the first one-armed athlete ever receiving a full ride.
The native Californian reached the Capital Region audience with his own unique style of Californiaisms through his stories ‘Dude, I don’t have a left arm,’ using his presence at 6-foot 11-inches tall he commanded everyone’s eyes and ears.
He paced in around the auditorium pit like guarding an entire opposing offense by himself; he reached out to students, he joked about his disability, how he owns it and high-fived participants after asking them questions about their sports and goals.
Within a few minutes the entire audience was putty in his large and powerful right hand.
He was straight forward to the students, acknowledging that high school can be the most excruciating four years of their lives, but it’s just four percent of their lifetime. “Real life starts after you cross the stage.”
But his early message was clear, every athlete needs to be a leader and help their classmates each and every day.
“3,041 high school students a day attempt suicide, that’s like 9/11 every day if they all succeeded,” Kevin Atlas said after the session. “When you were a kid you didn’t think of a school shooting, then after Columbine we’re desensitized to it. You see how things are aggressively getting worse and nobody is getting in the way of that, that’s a problem.”
Atlas isn’t asking for more money for schools or from schools, he’s not asking for new textbooks or curriculums, he asking the students that are in danger, see the danger to be the solution.
“If kids aren’t loved at home than they come to school to be loved and that’s not working out,” Atlas said. “We have to fulfill an environment where these kids essentially have real school spirit, school pride, pick each other up and it’s cool to do so.”
Like any coach in practice he reinforced his message that it only takes 21 days to create a habit. He had the student-athletes repeat it time and again. And it worked. “I want to start complimenting people every day, like giving three compliments to someone every day,” Columbia High School soccer player Meghan Sanbrook said after the event.
“If you are nice to people, even though you are feeling really bad, you could feel good about yourself after you are nice to someone else,” soccer player Mia LaPietra said. “They could be having a bad, just like you.”
Atlas also honed his message in for the student-athletes on supporting each other, outside of their own bench, practices, games and pasta parties.
After asking all the football players in attendance to stand he asked just the seniors to remain standing. He then asked if they had a marching band play at their games, what games, for how many years.
“All our home games, the past four years,” was the answer. Then Atlas asked ‘Have you ever been to a band concert during the past four years?’
You could hear a pin drop.
Atlas challenged the football players to wear their jerseys and attend one band concert this year to support those kids who supported them during each fall and make it a tradition.
It wasn’t lost on the high profile Friday night stars either. He asked the soccer players if they ever saw a field hockey game. The answer ‘Maybe a half .... ’ Again the challenge was issued and readily accepted by the Columbia athletes.
“I thought it was cool because we all play soccer and no one comes to our games...ever,” Annie Patwell said. “The only people there are our parents, so if we had more people coming to our games I think we would definitely support other teams too.
“Everyone goes to the football games, but nobody goes to other sports, its only football that other people care about and sometimes basketball. Your team will support you, but I wish we would support other people.”
That lesson was taught to Atlas by his Manhattan College coach, Steve Massiello.
“He started to require us to support other teams and that snowballed into teams supporting each other,” Atlas said. “I see it a lot in different colleges and different high schools and the ones that are very successful have support not because a team is doing well, but the team is doing well because they have support.
“That is a huge difference, that changes the whole campus atmosphere and it makes it a lot more inviting to go to every day.”
The message wasn’t just welcomed by the athletes, but those who support the Blue Devils every day.
“I think his message was great, it’s genuine and imagine if everyone, whether it’s your own school or other schools helping each other, saying ‘Hi,” Columbia athletic director Mike Leonard said. “We shake hands because we shake hands after a game, but it’s that really genuine?
“If coaches could reach out and help coaches or help each other and we don’t do enough of that in the society, I totally agree. I think we need to start taking care of each other more.”
The #BelieveinYouChallenge is open to all schools, student-athletes and more.
For more on Kevin Atlas and the Believe In You program, visit www.varsitybrands.com/believe-in-you