An industrial office park in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood seems an unlikely spot for a beehive of optimism-fueled activity.
But that’s exactly what you’ll find at Athletics & Beyond, a two-decade-old nonprofit with deep roots in the community.
Youngsters trooped into the 7,500-square-foot facility on Nome Street on a recent afternoon to box, sprint, swing bats, lift weights and pivot purposefully under the watchful eyes of experienced coaches and trainers.
The play is part of a larger purpose, said Narcy Jackson, co-founder and executive director of Athletics & Beyond. The organization channels young people’s enthusiasm for sports into academics and other support that will help them succeed in whatever profession or pursuit they choose.
“We don’t want our kids to lock themselves into only one thing,” Jackson said. “Don’t be just a football player. Be a scholar athlete.”
Expanding young people’s horizons
To that end, the organization offers free tutoring, run by a teacher and an engineer, to the entire community every Wednesday. Students also get instruction in film, dance, yoga, computer science, financial literacy and more in a community room within the facility.
“Most of what we do is community work,” Jackson said. “We are a mentoring program, but in order to get our kids’ attention, we have to go to what they’re passionate about.”
UCHealth recently hosted the 8th annual Healthy Swings Charity Home Run Derby at Coors Field, and multiple pro athletes and celebrities helped raise $260,150 for Athletics & Beyond and its ongoing work to improve community health. The dollars raised this year set a record for the UCHealth event.
Jackson called UCHealth’s ongoing support, including the financial boost from the Healthy Swings event, “beyond exciting. I am pinching myself.”
Inspiration from tragedy
A poster affixed to the wall above Jackson’s head bears witness to his drive to divert young people away from the risks and temptations that surround them and toward productive, satisfying ways to live.
The young man pictured in the poster wears a basketball jersey on the court and a proud competitive scowl as he rises above another player. He is Lonnie Harris – aka “Binky” to Jackson and his other childhood friends.
“He was putting up like 50 points,” Jackson said, looking at the photo. “No matter what sport, no matter what it was, he excelled.”
Jackson recalls Harris as a “phenomenal student athlete” at Central Catholic High School in Denver who pushed him “to be better and work twice as hard” just to keep up.
As an adult, Harris went on to a successful career at Comcast and was for Jackson the ideal model of the scholar athlete he wants kids in Athletics & Beyond to emulate.
But in 2017, Harris was murdered outside his southeast Denver home. He was just 52, and the murder remains unsolved.
At the time of the murder, Athletics & Beyond had been serving young people and their families for more than a decade but was four years away from moving into its present home. Jackson said the tragedy helped to spur his efforts to secure a home that protects kids and nurtures their promise.
“He definitely was an inspiration,” he said.
Support for sports, academics and more
Harris’s death is also a reminder that the world can be a tough and dangerous place that can rob without reason. The Nome Street facility is not a hiding place, but rather a refuge where kids receive positive support and direction, Jackson said.
“Each one of those kids is in a safe facility and away from whatever harms might be out there for them,” he said.
Athletics and Beyond also works as a “connector” for young people who need counseling, mental health services, nutrition and other assistance, Jackson said.
“We’re finding that some of our kids have a lot more going on than what the average person would see,” Jackson said. “Some kids might have slept in the car the night before. They might have a parent that has been abused. They might not have eaten. We try to feed our kids at every event we hold. That’s the ‘beyond.’”
Service to others prevails
A spirit of service is evident from the moment one opens the door of Unit C. Victoria Aguilar, receptionist in the facility’s tiny front area, said she started helping at Athletics & Beyond as a junior in high school. She’s now a junior at Metro State University.
“I’ve lived here my whole life,” Aguilar said. “I enjoy being able to give back to my community.”
Shouts and bustling activity filled the cavernous, equipment-filled space behind her. Boxing coach Lyle Nurse (Coach Lyle) stood next to a boxing ring flanked by heavy training bags that kids pummeled while he spoke.
It’s a far cry from what he saw the first day Athletics & Beyond opened the Nome Street facility in 2021.
“Nothing was here,” he said.
Coach Lyle said he works with kids from the ground up, training them to box competitively.
“I begin teaching the basics,” he said. “Number one is defense because kids will be punching back.”
Above his head, two 13-year-olds in headgear and padded gloves practiced, waiting for his instruction.
“That’s the age I like them,” Coach Lyle said. “They’re growing into manhood. I help to raise them. I’m a tough coach. I’ve had them get angry with me, but I’m a mentor to help them get through tough times. Not everybody here is going to be a pro, but if I can get them started and then isolated with another coach, that’s the best.”
Affordable training, equipment and organized activity
Meanwhile, Bryan Sanders, Athletics & Beyond’s baseball director, tossed pitches to young hitters inside a netted batting cage. After several vigorous swings – and solid contact – a youngster named Eric said he appreciates having a place for organized practice.
“I get help with my swing and my mechanics,” he said.
“There was nothing like this when I grew up,” said Sanders, a Montbello High School graduate who played baseball collegiately and served as head coach at his alma mater.
Eric and other kids who have aspirations to play “at a higher level” practice hitting against a pitching machine and get data about their swing from technology like Blast Motion and HitTrax, Sanders said.
“It’s technology like you see in high-level gyms” that is “not breaking pockets” for parents, he said. The kids also play competitively in tournaments. But Sanders and his coaching colleagues have a larger message to convey to kids: use sports as a springboard to lifelong success.
“Athletics is the hook,” he said. “Sports can only take you so far, and they might not be a path in life. We’re helping our kids to be good young men.”
Positive support prevails
The positive influence coaches have on young people shone through in another corner of the space. Young kids took turns taking rapid staccato steps and making sharp pivots, both empty-handed and with footballs cradled under their arms. After a series of drills, they clustered around Armani-Tashon Swazer, who had put them through their paces.
“You can do anything you put your mind to,” Swazer told them.
“I became the man I am because of coaches,” Swazer said after the kids left.
He calls his training “Dawg University,” meaning it helps them to become “talented beyond the usual. But it’s not just talent. We’re helping them develop a mentality to outwork every other person.”
Swazer said his high-energy, demanding routines aim to build in youngsters “a mindset that will put them in the best position to succeed even when things aren’t the best.”
Marquaze Johnson’s six-year-old son was among those who heard Swazer’s message.
“He’s helping to teach discipline,” Johnson said.
Nearby, Tyrone, a teenager from Aurora who competes in high school football and track and is preparing to attend the University of Northern Colorado, crouched in starting blocks before launching into a sprint.
He said Athletics & Beyond gives him more than a place to practice and train.
“Honestly, it just helps me to make an impact and let people know that I can go bigger, beyond football,” he said. “I like the culture. They make you feel welcome, no matter what color you are or what language you speak.”
He added that for now he’s not getting help with his academics, but knows that “if I needed it, I know they are here.”
Back in his office, Jackson said Tyrone’s words embody what he originally envisioned for Athletics & Beyond.
“One hundred percent of our high school seniors graduate, and five are graduating from college,” he said. “That’s what we hang our hat on.”
The mission expands
Jackson’s dream continues to grow. On July 1, Athletics & Beyond will move into a new 25,000-square-foot home at 3250 Quentin Street in Aurora.
“It will allow us to spread out,” Jackson said. “We’ll be able to do more to meet the demands of the community.”