Trice: Baseball coach in Englewood guides players on, off the field

Maybe if Bruce Wilson coached baseball in a neighborhood other than Englewood, he could just coach baseball.

Maybe he wouldn't have to fight against a community where the homicide rate continues to soar, and the pull and tug of gangs and drugs hover over nearly every aspect of his young players' lives.

Maybe last week he wouldn't have had to jump in his car and chase down a 16-year-old player who, in a moment of frustration and revenge, was about to make a terrible mistake that could have landed him in prison or the graveyard.

That may sound dramatic, but Wilson views saving these young men as part of his job as head coach for the Skyline Youth Athletic Association, which has about 90 youths, ages 10 to 17, the majority of whom are growing up in Englewood.

Wilson, who lives in West Englewood, knows that the area parks, the street corners, the routes from home to school are a type of feeder system for the gangs and drug dealers. So his goal is to keep his young men busy and off the streets.

"Your life can change just like that here," said Wilson, 47. "Luckily, baseball takes up a lot of their time. When they wake up in the morning, they have a purpose. They know that at a certain time they're coming to the park to practice or to play a game."

He said it's best to bring boys into the baseball fold when they're young. By the time they're teenagers, it's almost impossible to get them to play on a team.

"I'm proud to say that my 16- and 17-year-olds now play year-round at their high schools, and they have good grades," he said. "We started these kids when they were 11 and 12, and they have continued to play."

Wilson and a Lindblom Park supervisor created a private youth baseball association in 2007 that later became Skyline. The original 12 players included Wilson's son, Branden Wilson, and his best friend, Devon Robinson. When I first wrote about Devon in 2007, he was hanging out in Lindblom Park for long hours to avoid a home life that was in shambles.

This summer, Devon is working full time at another South Side park.

Of Wilson's 12 original players, seven are still on the team. He said five have left the community and are faring well. But for those who remain, he's trying to keep them safe and help them get ready for college.

From the start, the association has struggled. In the beginning, the baseball field in Lindblom Park, before it was resurfaced, was such a wreck that the boys didn't know where to place the bases. The kids didn't have the right equipment and wore mismatched uniforms.

But over the years, Wilson has dug into his pockets to support the team, and donations have come in. That first group of boys went from being in last place to winning championships.

Because it costs too much for the 16- and 17-year-olds to play with kids their own age in the Amateur Athletic Union, they're currently playing in an adult league. Wilson said that once again they're in last place.

"In the summer, I have to play them where I can to keep them busy," he said. "It's just like that very first year (in 2007). If they play against competition that's better, it eventually makes them better."

Over the years, he's watched his boys develop into young men. Many are well-mannered and self-possessed.

"But when we first started, some of them were loud, and they cursed," Wilson said. "We recently played another team that was rough around the edges, and my boys were like, 'Oh my goodness.' And I laughed and said, 'That was you guys a few years ago.' They had to learn to put on their caps and tuck in their shirts and shake the hand of their opponents."

He said although they have come a long way, they still have a long way to go. Unfortunately, part of their journey takes them through the streets of Englewood.

Last week, he learned that one of his players was about to seek revenge after his father was beaten by a gangbanger. Wilson said he drove around the community until he found the young man.

"I told him to get in the car," he said. "Then, as I drove, I talked to him the way I'd talk to my son. He started to tear up. These guys are 15 and 16, but they've already been to war. They see their friends being shot up, and they've got post-traumatic stress syndrome.

"I remember when they were boys, they used to smile a lot, but now they think they have to frown to survive."

Wilson said he talked to the young man's father and told him that he was going to pick him up on Saturdays and Sundays for games, including an upcoming tournament at the University of Notre Dame.

He said the young man is a good center fielder and pitcher and he hopes he'll be able to attend a junior college and play baseball there. Wilson hopes all of the young men will attend college.

"I'm sending their stats and the videos I've made of them during practice to college coaches and putting them on YouTube, so hopefully somebody will see these kids and keep taking a chance on them," Wilson said.

dtrice@tribune.com

Source: http://feeds.chicagotribune.com/~r/chicagotribune/opinion/~3/xnLwbl43mOs/story01.htm

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