Beyond the Break

Tony Williams: Changing the youth of North Florida

• Chris Greco • Season 4 • Episode 1

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Tony Williams is the founder of the Protential Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering underserved youth through sports, mentorship, and education-based programming. Through initiatives like Passport to Prosperity, Tony has helped create life-changing opportunities for young people by combining athletics with academic support and personal development.

With a deep passion for community impact, Tony focuses on building systems that not only develop athletic skills but also instill confidence, discipline, and emotional resilience in the next generation. His work has directly contributed to improved academic performance and personal growth for youth across Northeast Florida.

Beyond his nonprofit leadership, Tony is also a mindset coach and speaker who challenges individuals to break through self-doubt and unlock their full potential. His mission is simple but powerful: create game changers on and off the field.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Beyond the Break, a podcast where we dive deep into the stories behind today's entrepreneurs, leaders, and change makers, and we uncover what it takes to build something that lasts. Let's get started. Beyond the Break.

SPEAKER_02

All right. Tony Williams, welcome to Beyond the Break. Great to meet you, Chris. Great to meet you as well. I'm really looking forward to hearing about, you know, I got to see a video of about a three-minute video that you produced about how you're working with youth in inner cities and helping them so much. And I can't wait to talk about the today. So welcome to the studio. Thanks for having us. So really, you know, getting into that, let's just get right to the start of what you're working with now because it's very powerful. And what we believe in here on Beyond the Break is, you know, helping others, uh, health and wellness, and people who start or create things as entrepreneurs or or uh you know, really starting items from scratch.

SPEAKER_01

So let's hear a little bit about what you're doing. What we've done is I was a former national scout for US soccer, Chris. So my job was to find the most promising players around the country and put them on the national teams. And as you as you toured around underserved communities, you realized that you could have much more of an impact than just finding the best players. If you wanted to do something sustainable, you needed to invest in and help cultivate and empower and inspire local leadership. Oh, yeah. Because then you've got a self-sustaining model when the community leaders are running that program. Sure. So we've started here the potential foundation. So it's developing professionals for life. Not many of the children that we work with in underserved communities or affluent communities are going to be professionals on the field. But the character that you learn through sport will lay a foundation for a great life, regardless of your ability. Yeah. So for me, it's how can I leverage my passion to do something positive for those less fortunate than ourselves.

SPEAKER_02

So you're using a lot of the skills that you learn in sport, not with your feet, but with your brain and your work ethic as well, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I I worked for 15 years before I came here in professional soccer. And the realization that I came out of there was more professionals make it because of professionalism than they do about their ability. So there was there was more soldiers made it than artists. There's a lot of talented individuals that don't make it because they haven't got a positive attitude, a strong character, or leadership qualities. So then that's the ethos behind potential.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And all that translates to life. 100%, mate. Yeah. 100%. 95% of female CEOs or executive directors have played sports. So imagine if we could transfer that into underserved communities and coach confidence through soccer to plant this vision that you can be a community leader. And the values that you need to be a community leader are going to be learned through your sport. Yeah. Whether it's lacrosse, soccer, golf, doesn't matter. You're educating for a life of leadership through a child's passion.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know, it's funny on the video, and we'll post it on our link, is there was a young kid, probably eight years old, and he was showing that he wore the captain's band. And it wasn't because he was the best player, right? You know, talk about that what he was uh you know showing off.

SPEAKER_01

The little boy's name is I'll keep it to his first name, is Adrian. And uh Adrian came in and it's as if he'd lived before the maturity, he was the youngest boy uh uh of older siblings. And he he's not shaped to be a soccer player, but that doesn't matter. Yeah, we were just cultivating his leadership skills through the sport. His mother just passed away from cancer. Oh my gosh, he's so young and the resilience, the mental fortitude that this boy has got is incredible. And you find when you go through that resilience and that adversity, you find a strength inside you that's God given. And he's found it, and he is now a leader, yeah, and that's why we give him a captain of character because the resilience that that that that young man has shown is remarkable. He's not going to go on and play in college, but he could run potential in West Augustine one day. So, what potential is is that the mission of the Protential Foundation is to leverage the power of sport to transform the futures of out-rich youth in underserved communities. This isn't about putting more kids on the national team. It's about if we can save one child from the drug dealer, if we can save one girl to have the strength of character to say no to an unwanted teenage pregnancy, and they're the trophies that we're looking to lift, not winning championships or state championships. So the vision is to inspire the next generation of community game changers and intentionally set up a model where you use the power of sport to transform futures, but that soccer ball can be changed to across stick, a softball, a surfboard. It doesn't matter. You're just leveraging the power of sport to inspire and transform futures.

SPEAKER_02

So one day you got the kids interested, right? Now you've got them in one spot, and then you could teach them other life skills as well, right? 100%.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's about developing. It's more important to develop the character of a champion than be the champion.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. So I love and we were talking earlier about um the the reading and writing program that you have there. And here in Jacksonville, we have the Police Athletic League does a lot with, I think, 3,000 kids after school, and we've been strong supporters of them for uh many decades now. You know, talk about how you've partnered with them because it's an interesting relationship.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's a it's a fantastic organization. Um, well, the first reason we partner with them is they're a values-based organization. The second reason we partner with them is it it gives you a chance to be part of something bigger than yourself. You're never gonna, you know, there's many founders that start off running organizations from the heart, but when they die, so does the program dash. So it's got to be about force multipliers and it's got to be creating sustainable infrastructure. So we saw Police Athletic League as an opportunity to add value to their program, but give us sustainable infrastructure. So you're absolutely right. What we've done is we've partnered with the Police Athletic League and JU and JFC. So the model is the three C's. You identify a community of need, then you partner with the local soccer club and mobilize their members to feed the needs of that local community, and then you partner with the college. So in this case, in Jacksonville, our strategic partner is the police athletic league. Yeah, the soccer club is Jacksonville Football Club, and JU is the college partner. So we've gone and done character for college training sessions at each of the PAL centres to introduce and increase access to it with the JU and the Armada players. And the next phase is what we call reading stars. We walked into an elementary school in West Augustine, and I said, Where do you need help? And she said to me, 67% of children who are reading below grade level at fourth grade end up incarcerated or on welfare. And I didn't sleep that night. I went home and said to my wife, this is what we're gonna do. Let's get on Amazon and let's buy books about Messi, Ronaldo, me, and Ham and stories of adversity that they'd overcome through sport. And let's give those kids the books and let's motivate them.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That if you don't read, you don't play. Kids don't want to train, kids want to play. Your sons like training, but they loved playing in lacrosse tournaments. So why can't you give underserved kids the same joy and access to opportunities? So the way the program's structured is we give them books and we bring in university students to read with them. So you've got reading coaches, and we create a reading league. So if you read, you can play. So they gather reading log, they take it home and they read them books at home. If you read today, yes, how many minutes? And then they bring it back. And if they bring back that reading log, they're available for selection for the Friday night game. Oh my gosh. So now a hundred percent of kids have increased at-home reading time. And they have a book in their house, right? Well, a lot of them don't have books. 60% 60% of households that live on or below the poverty line don't have one book in their house. Jeez. Frank. Leaders are readers. So that's the the first the first pillar of potential is academic enrichment, focused on increasing literacy, motivation to read. And if you increase the motivation to read, just by reading, they're gonna increase their vocabulary. Yeah. The economic impact of turning a child's reading round is between three quarters and 1.25 million a child. Really? So this is in we look at sport as an investment for local counties, not a cost. Yeah. Over the next 10 years, if we turn one kid's reading round, we've saved any county that we work in, you know, a million dollars.

SPEAKER_02

Avoiding getting in the in the jail system, avoiding breaking. Exactly, mate. Incarceration, the loss of taxes, welfare, all of that. Yeah. That's so powerful.

SPEAKER_01

The leverage that you can apply there, right? It is. There's no greater investment than in the future of youth, but how do you motivate kids to make better decisions and through sport? I love that. So I think sport's a tremendous value, a vehicle to drive social impact. You can break generational poverty if a kid goes to college as a student athlete. So it's not just about getting kids into college, it's about breaking generational poverty. Yeah. So that's the first one is the academics. The second one is character. Because if you if you look at what what's made you successful in your business, it's your core values. Yeah. It's your integrity, it's your striving for excellence to get up every morning and be the best you can be in everything you do all of the time. Yeah, that's our motto.

SPEAKER_02

Excellence, integrity, and service.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, I know that. So it's all we gotta live and breathe. Live and breathe it. You gotta too many organizations and sports teams just have those values on a piece of paper or in the dressing room, but they don't. There's no structure. Yeah, there's no measurement behind them. You've got to get kids, they know it, but now they've got to show it.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So what we've done is we've developed a program called Character Champions. So it's about developing professionalism. So we take the values of the police athletic league, or the values of a school, or the values of a partner in organization, and we soccerise them. So let's take respect. You motivate kids. How do how are kids motivated? They're motivated by the role models. So if they see Messi, if they see Mbappe or Ronaldo showing respect, they they want to be like the role models. Yeah. So you embrace technology and you show them videos of their role models showing showing respect. And then it's respect like Messi, respect like Ronaldo. And then, okay, why is res what is respect? Why is it so important? And let's go out and teach it.

SPEAKER_02

I love that.

SPEAKER_01

So let's go and teach it. So let's not score goals, let's not measure the score of the game by the goals. It's by the practical respect that you show as a team. And then at halftime, the halftime team talk is, Chris, give me an example of somebody within this game that showed respect and how did it happen? Oh wow. And then they talk about each other's respect and why they and why they respected it. Yeah. And then they go out and say, okay, how many incidents of respect in the first half with it? All right, there were three. All right. Who thinks they can show respect? Go out, they show more respect. That's how you measure the success of the game. Whether it's respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, teamwork, resilience. Yeah. So it's the same, it's the same coaching session, but instead of making, instead of talking about defending, you're talking about resilience and grit.

SPEAKER_02

And you're reinforcing it in their in their brain now, how important it is. That's the most important thing.

SPEAKER_01

You know, you talk about dreamlining and goal setting as well, developing winning habits on a consistent basis. That's the habits. It's the habits. The habits for get you towards your goals. You get goals get towards your dreams. So it's about developing winning habits for life. How do you do that? Well, responsibility is a learned behavior, integrity is a learned behavior. You can train it just like you can train your left foot.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So how do you do that? The kids are only spending a few hours a week with us. But if we can say to them, how can you be a role model and train your respect in school? How can you train your respect at home? How can you train your respect when you go to a restaurant with your family or you go to an Audi with your family? So the kids go away and they're looking for opportunities to role model respect. Then they come back and they share what respect situations that they've done. And then you reward it so that the character of a champion isn't the best player, it's the most respectable or the most responsible.

SPEAKER_02

So how do you work with the leaders of your program to teach this message? You know, how do you because this is a different way to coach, right? Most coaches walk on the field focused on the X's and O's and the skills of the footwork, let's call it, or the way the strategy of the game. You've got a coaching staff. Uh do you call them coaches even? So character coaches. But they're talking about elements that we don't hear about in normal uh you know athletic day in, day out activities.

SPEAKER_01

The most effective strategy that we've um look that we've seen and we're looking to implement now is this fullest multiplier. So the the most in you know the search institute um in Washington, DC did a huge survey on youth development and they came up with 40 developmental assets. And the most important developmental asset was occurring on a consistent basis. And then you look at the other side and think, well, you know, what are the risk indicators of kids in underserved communities? And one of the biggest risk indicators is not having a positive male role model in life. So you know if a kid hasn't got a dad, they're at risk. So how can how can you put somebody in their life that isn't an old guy from England with grey hair, but is a near-peer relationship that looks like them and has lived in the same community. Sure. So what we've done to get to your question of how do we train them? We've gone to university, we've gone to Flagler College, and we've not just brought in the soccer team, we've brought in African American athletes in the track and field team who are values-driven individuals with a passion for sport and an understanding of what these kids are going through. Okay, and then we we train them on the respect and the responsibility, how to deliver it practically. Sure. And then they then get up and talk about character for college. How do I use respect? How did respect get me in college? How do I need respect as a college student athlete? And then you bring business leaders in and community leaders in to say, well, it's about values, it's not about your ability. Yeah, it's about your values.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, I'd love to put me on that list. I'd love to contribute as well. I think that's such a great idea. And then think about what you're talking about. You've got now 19 and 20-year-old college students who are mentors. And to be a mentor at that young of an age is really powerful as well. So if you're you're making them better too.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, you know, humble, humble. Well, thanks. We we'd love to have you. No, the whole team would absolutely sign us all in the world. We'd love to have you. Um so that's that's basically it, you know. It's about creating a continuum of character and leadership and mentorship through sport. But it's this ethos of lift is your client. The best way to learn to something is to teach it. So if we go to JFC's, you know, kids in Pontevedra who open the fridge and see a choice, yeah, but think that's normal, you know, we need to humble our kids. Sure. And they open the wardrobe and they've got a choice of cleats.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

You go down to urban Jacksonville and they open the wardrobe, and there's one pair of cleats, and they see the back of the fridge. So just simple things like you go to the local soccer club and they collect books and they collect gently used soccer equipment, and then they come and donate it to the inner city kids. So it's not just college kids, it's high school youth leaders that come in and mentor the kids. So the way that we've done it is the middle school kids mentor the elementary school kids, the high school kids mentor the middle school kids, the college kids mentor the high school kids, and professionals like yourself mentor the college kids or the kids in the program.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my.

SPEAKER_01

So you're creating this ethos, lift as you climb. Yes. Oh, I love that. Lift as you climb, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And it also brings it makes us all aware as a society of what challenges different groups have, you know, where it's it's not in your zip code, but you've got to be aware. And there's ways to help besides just handing out money. The money doesn't matter because everything you've just talked about wasn't even financial. Everything was about the person, the personality, and and making them a better, you know, human being. That's what it's all about. And that's so much powerful in the door.

SPEAKER_01

It's all about is when we get upstairs, we knock on the door. Yeah. What gets you well played? So, what was that? It's climbing partner? Lift as you climb. Lift as you climb. It's about there's a story about the the the black crabs, and the black crabs are all in a bushel at the bottom. Uh-huh. And there's one black crab that's climbing up the side of it trying to get out. And instead, the the crab below them, instead of pushing them and helping them, they drag them down so they can get ahead. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And no one's getting out.

SPEAKER_01

Nobody's getting ahead. Everybody, everybody's in the end. So it's like lift as you climb. That's powerful. You know, in education, if we talk to kids, then they'll retain 20% of it. If we do an interactive discussion, they'll retain 50%. If you give a kid a project that they're passionate about, and then they go and present it to a peer, they retain 90% of that information. Oh my.

SPEAKER_02

That's that's really interesting. The way you have to, if you're living it, breathing it, then it's gonna stick, right? Versus just hearing it. I love that.

SPEAKER_01

So the the mentoring, and you've done a lot of mentoring yourself, haven't you?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I'm part of an organization that does it basically creates an entrepreneurial atmosphere in inner city kids. And they come up with an idea of a of a company and they present it to a board of an advisory board who gives them advice on what direction that company's headed, and it's a it's a mock company, but like you said, the kids are getting involved. It's called VE International, and it's across the country and the the world actually, and it's very powerful, the impact that it makes on the kids.

SPEAKER_01

So I I I read the model and I absolutely love the model, and my mind went to social entrepreneurship. Yes. Because if you look at, you know, if you you look at your sustainable business, you're looking for succession planning. So this can't be about me, it's got to be about creating a sustainable model that can be scalable. Yes. And it's about your people, isn't it? So the the that move service through sport movement of college student athletes who can then be trained and they they can go to anywhere in the country, any other world, and run the potential model, whether it's through soccer or lacrosse. Yes, is one thing. But then you know the guys who are not gonna go and work for potential or are not gonna go into sports but want to be entrepreneurs, then why couldn't we partner with VE to do that business, sports-based business or sports-based entrepreneurship? Yes. I love that model. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

No, that that's great. Now, how many cities or states is potential in right now?

SPEAKER_01

It's a great question. It's a great question. Tony Williams at in Philadelphia when I did this last time would have been nationwide. Yeah, but I learned that you know you can have explosive growth and then you've got to slow down to get your systems and processes to catch up, sure, and then you can go again. So we're at that really exciting but vulnerable position right now, okay, where we've gone from 18 children in one location in St. John's County to now 163 kids in six locations in St. John's County, and now over 150 kids in with the police athletic league.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So we're not in multiple states by intention.

SPEAKER_03

Good.

SPEAKER_01

We've been asked to go to Miami. Growing smart. No, okay.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It's got to be sustainable. Yeah. So we've slowed down the growth to now raise the infrastructure and get the operational systems and processes in place. That then we can we're not growing on eggshells then. No, no.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, that's the demise of many firms is they grow too fast and Then you don't have the support structure, and it's not repeatable either. What you're doing, you need to be plug and play. So Texas can have it, New York City can have it, you know, Philadelphia can have it.

SPEAKER_01

That's exactly and then they roll it out to scale. 100%. So if we partner with a county, then we don't have to sell our program to the next county. That county will make the phone call if we do a good job. But if we try to go to five counties, we'll only have 20% of the focus.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. So what's your biggest challenge now to get to that next level? Disciplined.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. Without a doubt, mate, mate. The biggest challenge that we've got now is this disciplined to say not yet.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

That's something to say not yet because that's impressive. The the demand for the program and the opportunity to expand the program, not just geographically, but to other sports, is the opportunity, the strength of the organization could be the biggest threat.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So it's now, you know, time out on the growth, and let's look to see if we can build the systems and processes. So the biggest challenge now is to find the director of operations that's going to run the day-to-day operations, not just from where we are, but where we need to be in five years. So I'm looking for somebody that you can that's passionate about our mission, that is honourable, that shares the same culture and the core values, that I can step out the day-to-day operations of the organization and lay the track ahead of the train. Yeah. Knowing that everything on the train is taken care of with excellence and integrity.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I think what you're building is people want it. People need it, first of all. And it's it's a uh it's an easier solution, I think, because it won't require a ton of capital, but you've got to get that program so it's cookie cutter.

SPEAKER_01

What have you learned from VE, Chris? What what what are the what are the biggest challenges to to growing the impact of that model and how have you overcome them?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I think with VE, what they've done, and it's 25 years old, what they've done a great job of is they've made the adoption price point de minimis. So the school systems, when they add the program, it's a very low purchase price because all schools, public schools specifically, have very tight budgets. So they've minimalized that. It's just actually getting the, let's call it the buyer, the school system to understand and stop and listen to this new idea because many public schools just are in a very governmental mode a lot of times. They're not entrepreneurial by nature. And this has got to this is something new and different. So if they just stop and listen, like here in St. John's County, our superintendent's amazing. Right. Right guy, Dr. Aspett, very open-minded, and he sees this as a value add. And you know, where families nowadays can choose to homeschool, go to other private schools, because in Florida we have, you know, you portability of your dollars. Uh, we now need to compete for kids to come back to the public school. And we have a great public school system, but it's it's not guaranteed. So he's he's stopping and listening, and he will help adopt it. Um, same with Duvall County, which is downtown Jacksonville as well. So and we're we're just partnering with a few funding sources as well to solve so that the taxpayers don't even have to foot the bill for it. And I think it'll be a home run here, and then it'll grow throughout you know the um the suburban area and the and the urban area as well. Self-sustaining local model that can be replicated in the Trevor Burrus, Oh yeah, they they've got, to your point earlier, VE has the infrastructure, the programming locked up right now. So it is cookie cutter, and now it's just educating each buyer, uh, if you will, one by one.

SPEAKER_01

One of the things I loved most about the model was that you're scaling through technology.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So even just genius.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, that's the the founder Iris is phenomenal. And her motto is, you know, if you could see it, you can be it. And I never really thought of that because I grew up, my father worked on Wall Street, and and that's the example now that you know I don't I took it for granted is that everybody's surrounded by hardworking, motivated, you know, people in different careers. But frankly, certain careers are just not exposed to certain communities. So kids don't realize these finance jobs are out there or other types of industries that they might want to study math more, they might want to study science more because they're not surrounded by people who are in those industries. But if you expose them to all the different types of learning paths, then they they might be more curious and be successful students. I love it.

SPEAKER_01

And that that's you know part of the pro long-term vision for potential is to create this full circle moment where you've got youth coming through the program. So let's imagine they go through this VE simulated journey through through business, but then it becomes real. So whether it's Way Cross Partners, whether it's Pinnacle Bank, what whether it's Florida Blue, whoever the local companies are who are sponsoring the program, it's a pipeline of future employees for them.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, as well. Yeah. So that the employees can volunteer as well. And then it motivates the kids to work hard because they see, oh, uh Jimmy, who was in the program three years ago, now is an intern there or has a real has a full-time job there. So it'll get the communities more excited. I think it's great what you're what you're tapping into here for sure.

SPEAKER_01

Like likewise, and no, the third the first pillar is academic enrichment, the second is character development, the third one, which as I know is dear to your heart and your i is health and wellness.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Because without health, you've got nothing.

SPEAKER_02

No, it's it's and a lot of these kids don't have great um dietary uh nutrition at all.

SPEAKER_01

So a huge part of developing to your potential as a player is what you put inside your body. Yes. So it's it's educating youth on the importance of diet nutrition. So we have this little practical program called Snactivity. So instead of just doing a warm-up, we do snactivity. So an example is every kid's lined up in the middle with a ball each, and then we have a line of red cones, which is don't go to this food. We have a line of green cones, go to this food, and then the coach just shouts out a food. You shout out pizza, the kids don't know which way to know whether it's healthy or not. So then you write in with cultural moments, you shout broccoli, why is it important? So then you challenge the kids. So not only go and read, your challenge is your healthy lifestyle challenge, go and try new food that you've never tried before and come back and talk to me. Yeah, and it it came from a young man in Scotland called Russell Duncan. Russell Duncan came to us as one of the most promising players in the country, but at half time, second half of the game, he would never be as effective. And then it wasn't until it wasn't until we took him away on a trip that we realized kid doesn't eat.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh at all, but he wasn't doesn't eat malnutrition. He ate pizza and it like ham sandwiches on white bread. That was all he ate. Oh my god. And his parents, rather than fighting it, just went along with it. Yeah. So we said, well, if you want to come on tour with us, then you've got to try new food. And it's before the internet.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I said, here's the deal. You can go on tour to Sweden in six weeks if every week I get a postcard from you on a new food that you've tried. Dear Tony. Corned beef love Russell. Dear Tony, green beans love Russell. Russell didn't just go on that next tour. The next time I saw Russell Duncan was on TV when I came to America as the captain of his country. He went on 10 years to be a professional player because of the decision he made to change his diet and nutrition. So I think it's massively important because for parents, it it's when they go to Aldi, it's the most expensive is the healthy foods. Sure. And the most convenient under survival is them going into fast food, and we've got to get them away from that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, because you think of if if a kid even does eat breakfast, if it's a sugar soda or a muffin, they're going to crash by 10 in the morning. So they're setting their day up for disaster, right? They're not going to be able to learn because their brain is fighting all that sugar. And then they're hungry again, but then they're just going to eat more junk. So it creates a cycle. So the sooner that they can learn the value of eating, I mean, eggs are not that expensive to have for, you know, you have three eggs for breakfast and a little bit of ham. That'll set up a kid for the day a lot better than a muffin and a soda drink, you know?

SPEAKER_01

So we we couldn't do everything at once, Chris. Yeah. So we focused on the the reading because it was the most leverage, focused on the decision making because we could do it through soccer. The next big uh objective for us is to part to do create cross-sector partnerships to really build out that health and wellness curriculum, both physically and mentally. Great. So if you partner with publics on the the diet nutrition, and then when kids read and make good decisions, the parents get gift vouchers to go and spend in Publix on healthy food, then it's a win-win-win. Oh I love that. So creative, yeah. And then, you know, if we partner with Walmart to buy blenders, and then instead of just doing a soccer session, the kids have got all the fruit from Publix, they sit there and then they design their own smoothies. And then not only who's red today, but who's at the smoothie. Yeah. So you're developing winning habits that change my life, the way you're at. Yes. Um, so you know, you want to do what what you know works for for for others. But it even more importantly than the physical health for many families and children that have been through trauma, is the mental health. So the mental health and emotional control of trauma-based kids is massively important, is what we've learned from the first 18 months of running this program. And I'll give you one example. Um there's a little kid called a little boy called Ashton, who was referred to us by the school district because Brennan's a a big supporter. And he used to run away from school. He came to this behavioral health program and they said, he he really needs your your program. So he came in, he's never never played soccer before. Within a few months, he was playing on the team. And then we were going to Orlando because the kids who read then go on the field trip to Orlando City to see a professional game. Two days before we were supposed to go to Orlando, Ashton got jumped by bullies in his school. And normally he would fight back, pick up anything that was in the room and fight back. And he didn't, he just curled up like a hedgehog and took the beating. And when the school resource officer pulled the other kids off, sat Ashton down in the room, and said, Why didn't you fight back? He said, Well, I'm gonna play in the game on Friday night, and I wanna go. Coach Tony, if I retaliate, I know he's not gonna let me go to the field trip. And you know, beyond the break, that was a moment in the evolution of potential where you knew your mission had to be leverage. Oh my gosh, that's something you made a big impact. Ashton has not only gone on um in our program, but he's now gone to middle school, and we bring him back into his elementary school to coach emotional control to the younger kids. So it the mental health is i i is really powerful.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, in in two ways. One is the example you led about retaliation and escalation, and and two is just physical activity helps with depression, helps with kids who are not motivated, and helps with their own brain as well.

SPEAKER_01

There's a direct correlation between physical activity and educational outcomes. No two ways about it. Yeah, it's refutable.

SPEAKER_02

But like you started our talk about today, you know, you started looking for the elites of the world, and now you've taken that the success rates that lead to those people and bringing it to the masses. And I think that's so powerful because you're helping so many more than 22 people, right? You used to recruit for 22, now you're impacting hundreds of thousands.

SPEAKER_01

That's the potential. You look at it, we we live in a country the size of a continent. Why can't we find better players to compete at the world level? Well, we're coming at it the wrong way. We're looking at them as players instead of human beings. No, no. If you focus on the development of the human being, the player will you'll be developed at better players.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Build a nice broad. It's a values-based approach.

SPEAKER_01

It's a values-based approach.

SPEAKER_02

And you know what? Along the way, um, the other uh thousands of kids will be good humans and good in society, you know, contribute to society. So I think what you're doing is amazing, Tony. And um, as I mentioned, we're gonna be part of your solution in North Florida here. And I just it's it's mind-blowing. You really inspired me today. So thanks for coming on the program. That's no problem.

SPEAKER_01

You know, for your for your listeners, you know, the there's three ways that any person or organization support, of course. It's with your time, your treasure, or your talent. So the three ways that you can get involved to support this mission is volunteer. So come out and give your time to volunteer as either as a reading coach, a character coach, or come on the field and soccer. And then you can donate, gently use books or soccer equipment so it breaks down the barrier. And then for twelve hundred dollars a year, you can sponsor a child for an entire year in the program. So for a hundred dollars a month, you could change the trajectory of a child's life. So if anybody's interested in this mission, then please um email me at twilliams at protential.org or text me at 484-252-3779. Or you can visit our website which is protential.org. You know, together in North Florida, we can develop a national model of excellence that could shape and in some cases save lives. And I'm so grateful to Way Cross Partners for having me today and for JFC, the Armada, and the Police Athletic League for our partnership here in Jacksonville. So thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_02

Very powerful. All those links will be on our website. Thank you, Tony. Great. Looking forward to part two with you next.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks for tuning in to be on the break. If this conversation brought you value, make sure to like, subscribe, and hit the bell so you never miss an episode. We've got more real stories, sharp insights, and powerful turning points coming your way. See you next time.