News

Six BTSC staff members along with 250 other individuals working in youth development field attended the Laureus Sport For Good (SFG) Quarterly Town Hall Wednesday in which the Chicago Mayor, Brandon Johnson, delivered a speech expressing support in favor of sports-based youth development organizations. 

Through the hard work of Laureus SPG and their efforts serving youth athletics, Illinois is the first state in the union to fund sports-based youth development organizations. With that, Beat The Streets Chicago is honored and immensely grateful to be awarded $200,000 of the $5 million given to Laureus SPG by the state. 

Due to Laureus SPG’s generosity, this award will be used to continuously upgrade and elevate our various programming dedicated to building Life Champions within Chicago youth. 

Over 30 women from both BTSC & surrounding high schools visited the facility Saturday to showcase their skills in the presence of wrestling coaches from over 10 colleges & university’s. 

The day included a technique session, live matches, and separate time for the athletes and coaches to connect. This experience hopefully laid the foundation for what could eventually be a post secondary path for many wrestlers if they choose to receive an education & wrestle at the next level. 

Full list of colleges & universities who attended below: 

• Augustana College
• Aurora University
• Buena Visita University
• Carthage College
• Eureka College
• Indian Hills CC
• Iowa Western CC
• Loras College
• Morton College 
• University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy 
• Wartburg College

We are already two sessions in to the 2023-2024 Life Champions Academy and the excitement is far from over! 

Meeting one Sunday a month, this exclusive program with 75+ BTSC wrestlers enrolled includes a two hour life skills workshop followed by a 2 hour wrestling clinic led by a world-class guest clinician.

Kicking off last September, the first day of LCA featured a workshop themed around organization in which the wrestlers engaged in various stations educating them on different yet equally efficient methods of organization. Then U.S. National Team member & 2x NCAA DII National Champion, Daniel DeShazer led an intense workout centered around preservering through adverse situations. 

While the first LCA day was in-house, the most recent LCA day was held offsite as wrestlers traveled to the headquarters of Alston Construction for a tour of their modern office space & a lesson on the importance of goal setting. After lunch, athletes received transport to the R13 wrestling facility for a technique session. 

Following the first two LCA days, we plan to carry the same energy over to next month’s workshop on financial literacy. 

Instilling wrestlers with the values and resources needed to become Life Champions one day at a time. 

The annual Beat The Streets Chicago Fall Classic saw over 500 wrestlers take the mat on Oct. 14th & 15th making it the largest Fall Classic in organization history. 

Of the 500+ wrestlers Beat The Streets Chicago accounted for 20% of the field with over 100 athletes signed up. This tournament served as the first ever competition for many BTSC youth, making it a great learning experience for BTSC athletes as they head into the IKWF Winter season. 

Similar to the youth, BTSC high school wrestlers used this competition as preparation for the upcoming folkstyle season. Many of which found success as BTSC had three men’s champions & two women’s champions along with a host of other medalists.

Beat The Streets Chicago would like to extend a huge thank you to the volunteers who donated time from their busy schedules to ensure this tournament ran as efficiently as possible. 

Click here to register for the IKWF season at any location. 

Beat The Streets Chicago is honored to have been chosen as a charity partner by The Tennis & Fitness Centre of Oak Park & River Forest!

As a charity partner Beat The Streets Chicago received a generous donation by way of summer tennis court & guest fees! We are extremely thankful to receive support from one community organization to another. 

Donations like this fuel our programming & allow us to provide the necessary resources for our wrestlers to succeed! 

Thank you Tennis & Fitness Centre of Oak Park & River Forest!

https://www.tenandfit.com/

As part of a tour around the United States, The Ukrainian women’s national team spent a week in Chicago training with our girls team!

With several Ukrainian wrestlers medaling at the UWW Women’s World Championships, our girls received  training and guidance from wrestlers competing at the highest level. Aside from wrestling, the Ukrainian’s also engaged in in an activity painting picture frames with our girls team to facilitate cross-cultural bonding. 

Beat The Streets Chicago Executive Director Mike Powell and BTSC Alumni Cameron White appeared on WGN Daily News! 

With the purpose of sharing our mission to a greater audience, Powell used this opportunity to tell the world a small piece of our story. We are extremely grateful for the ability to discuss our organization on such a large platform as the journey to creating Life Champions is a never ending process!

Catch the story below!

In support of members from the Young Professionals Board running the half marathon portion of the Life Time Half Marathon & 5k, many wrestlers & coaches got up before sunrise to run over three miles on a Sunday! 

The event proved to be a fun team building experience that allowed wrestlers to exercise and have fun away from the wrestling mat.