Posts by Erika Hobbs

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Chris Hinton had to grow up faster than most kids his age.

But it took wrestling to make him the man he is.

He was a kid from Chicago’s West Side, no dad in the picture, raised by a mom alongside a brothers. By the time Hinton was in eighth grade, his mother needed him to move on. So he did and moved in with his great-grandmother in Garfield Park.

By 14, he enrolled himself in high school. It wasn’t the kind of run-in, run-out task many parents are used to. It was complicated. His 88-year-old great-grandmother couldn’t make the trek, so he had to travel alone and figure out the system with the help of a few of the school’s staff members.

His mother lived on the outskirts of Oak Park, so if he had lived with her, he could have enrolled at Oak Park River Forest High school. But because of his living conditions, the federal government considered him homeless and permitted him to enroll although he was staying in Chicago. Hinton had to catch a bus across the city and into the suburbs just to get to school.

“I was just kind of punching my way through,” said Hinton, 22.

Then one day Mike Powell came out to talk to the freshman football team, Hinton recalled, to try to persuade them to try wrestling. Powell was the high school’s wrestling coach before he became executive director of BTS Chicago.

“He talked about how wrestlers are tough and real men. It drew me in, and I showed up to practice,” Hinton said.

And he kept showing up. No matter how hard the practices were. No matter how hard his living situation was. Two years in, his grandmother died and he crashed at a friend’s house, where he found respite from life on the West Side.

“Things were going on,” he said. “I was feeling like wrestling was kind of like life — there’s so much adversity, but you can’t let the adversity keep you down.

“I could quit and I could go hang my head, or I could lose a match and go hang my head — but what good would it do to hang my head?”

At the sidelines, Powell and the other coaches watched. They saw what was going on. Without Hinton asking, they gave him what he needed — and things he didn’t know he needed. Like praise.

“I didn’t really know what it was like to have people be proud of me,” he said.

They never let him down.

That’s why Hinton coaches for BTS Chicago today. The DePaul junior traded his gear for a degree in business and economics, but the wrestler in him remains. Now, he wants to share his skills and his story with others like him.

“Yeah, I was drawn into the macho man stuff and how you can be tough and strong,” he said. “But that’s the smallest part of it.”

The biggest part is how wrestling changes your character.

“Inevitably, you’re going to think you can’t do something, but you do end up doing it.”

In life, that’s a priceless lesson for kids — and grown-ups — to learn.

For years I had the privilege to go travel around the country presenting at various state coaching conventions. They were outstanding events where I learned a ton about coaching. I took several things from each experience and applied them to our program, my coaching style, our technique system.

But after each one, the same question came up: Why doesn’t Illinois do something like this? We have the second most USA wrestling members in the U.S. and as a state, we are at the top in terms of competition. It makes sense that we would have a robust and large convention.

It was a no-brainer. So we created one.

And here we are. Through our coaches and officials convention, Beat the Streets Chicago and the IWCOA hope to do our part to build a vibrant and healthy wrestling culture in Illinois.

These conventions offer much more than great technique and program-building seminars. It is a chance to be with like-minded coaches and officials, to network, and to immerse yourself in the sport. I always left the conventions feeling fresh, energized and optimistic about the coming season. I would leave the conventions and immediately call a coaches meeting, hoping that I could share some of these great feelings and ideas with the others on our staff.

I learned more from socializing with other high school coaches during lunch and at evening socials than I did from the NCAA champs and college coaches who presented (though they were great, too). The conversations consisted of things like dealing with difficult parents, politicking with school administration, practice structure and fundraising. Those conversations were gold.

I hope that our convention will inspire you, too.

There isn’t much difference between having a 5 and a 4 on the scoreboard at the end of a match. It really does come down to the little things. We want to help the coaches who attend the convention make those small but important adjustments that will help their guys come out on the right side of the 5 to 4 semifinal matches.

Join us today.

Jordan Blanton, a three-time  Illinois high school state champion and a three-time All-American for the University of Illinois leads this two-hour training at St. Ignatius.

Learn from the best.

It takes a city!

Inspiration!

One night this past weekend, I drove into the heart of the Austin neighborhood in Chicago to pick up Mo, a ninth grader at west side school, for the inaugural BTS Mentor kickoff dinner. I changed his name for privacy purposes.

After knocking on the half-open front door of the two flat, I heard a bellowing “Who is it?!?” come from the second floor. It was Mo’s deepest, most macho voice. “I’m looking for Mo,” I replied. In a completely different, friendly tone, Mo said, “Coach Powell! I’ll be right down.”

He spoke throughout the entire ride to Lou Malnati’s, providing the details of his football and school experiences. He explained why he was ineligible for this week’s football game, and his plan for how he was going to improve his grades. He expressed his excitement to meet his new mentor, Cory Lester. When I explained Lester was leading the mentoring program, Mo asked, “So he’s like the captain, right?”

Beat the Streets is more than a wrestling organization. Our goal is to serve the entire child, supporting them in all facets of life — academically, athletically, emotionally. Lester is the head of our mentoring program and will also serve as Mo’s mentor throughout high school and beyond.

We had a great dinner. It didn’t take long for the mentors and mentees to start robust conversations about all things BTS, school, training — and even current football seasons. Lester directed the conversation to wrestling, its many attributes, and then the important role the mentors will play in helping the wrestlers focus those attributes into a plan for the future: life beyond high school and after wrestling.

It was powerful stuff.

We are going hook them into the wrestling, the world’s greatest vehicle for self-improvement.

At one point, we went around the table and everyone introduced themselves. Mo was one of the last people to speak. Without prompting, Mo breezed through his personally story and then expressed his sincere gratitude for the opportunity to be part of the mentoring program and BTS. He’s spoke of five meaningful years with the BTS Screaming Eagles club and his affinity and appreciation for Coach Dan Verr. He said that he knows that if he going to be a successful person, he will need ample support. A ninth grader!

We had a great ride home. Again, Mo did most of the talking, his excitement and optimism was palpable. It was contagious- Mo had me fired up!

I woke up this morning with the resolve to do right by Mo. He’s the reason why so many folks are getting excited about BTS Chicago.

We are going to find a couple of thousand Mo’s in Austin, Lawndale, Englewood, Bronzeville, and across Chicago. We are going hook them into the wrestling, the world’s greatest vehicle for self-improvement.

We’re fired up! 

The first-of-its kind convention for coaches and officials in this state will be held Nov. 3 and 4.

Hurry to grab your spot. Tickets will be available at the door, but you can ensure your spot here.