Combat Marine Coaches The Next Generation For a Better Tomorrow with Coach Chris Torres

Warriors, fall in...It’s time for formation.

 Today, I’m joined with a Marine Corp Veteran who I actually met while attending the Military Influencer Conference in Las Vegas, last year. At that time, I got an opportunity to hear all about his non-profit organization, more importantly I actually felt and listened to the passion behind his overall project to change lives.

Today’s guest is on the show today because he believes Instilling Confidence and Hope with our at-Risk Youth through Physical Sports Activity, Mentorship & Community Service is a majority priority in today’s society and I certainly agree.

Our guest today is Coach Chris Torres and his organization is called Future Stars Sports Clinic so let’s learn more about Coach Chris, his military service, and the impact his organization has been making, lately.

Future Stars Sports Clinic Main Website:
https://futurestarssportsclinic.com

Cleats 4 Stars Link:
https://futurestarssportsclinic.com/cleats-4-stars/

Purchase a Sponsorship for Future Stars Sports Clinic:
https://futurestarssportsclinic.com/sponsorship/

Future Stars Sports Clinic IG:
https://www.instagram.com/futurestarssportsclinic/

Connect with Coach Torres on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/futurestarsfootballclinic/

Transcript

KP: 0:33

In the military, you're given a uniform and instructed on how to do things and when to do them. But what happens when the cadence fades, and you're no longer wearing that uniform? I'm Kp and I started this podcast to fill that silence with direction and to provide overall support for my beloved military family. Welcome to the Morning formation. This episode is powered by act now education, go to www dot ATT now education.com For free, comprehensive educational resources and opportunities for active duty veterans, military spouses, and children.

Chris Torres: 1:18

But here's where the kicker was. And this is what I've set the future stars football clinic at the time, the kids weren't upset. Because they lost they were upset because the the friendship and the family environment that I created with them was gonna go away because none of these kids went to the same elementary schools. Now that the season was over, they're not going to see them anymore. And when I seen that and realize that, I looked at my coaches and I said we need to do this on a bigger scale.

KP: 1:49

Warriors fall in, it's time for formation. Today I'm joined with a Marine Corps veteran who I actually met while attending the military influencer conference in Las Vegas last fall. At that time, I got an opportunity to hear all about our guests, nonprofit organization, and more importantly, I actually felt and listened to the overall passion behind his project to change lives. Today's guest is on the show, because he believes in instilling confidence and hope with at risk youth through physical sports activity. He also includes mentorship and community service as a majority and a priority to his organization. And I certainly certainly agree and understand the importance, especially in today's world, of why he would prioritize these things. Our guest today is Coach Chris Torres. And his organization is called Future Star Sports Clinic. So let's learn more about Chris and his military service, and the impact that his outstanding organization has been making lately. Chris, welcome to the Morning formation.

Chris Torres: 2:54

Center for those man, thank you for having me in this formation, I haven't been in a formation in since 2014.

KP: 3:02

You know, what's funny is is I am not a morning person, for me to call it the morning formation is, is kind of like counter to what I actually enjoy. But the thing about being information that was a time for us to take accountability, check in with one another after a long weekend, disseminate information, you know, check on health and welfare, the whole nine yards. So that's why I named the podcast, the morning formation, even though it was a shitty time and you knew that you're gonna get ready to run, you know, six to eight miles on a PT, you know, on your PT run, it was still a good time for that camaraderie and for us to check in with one another. So thank you for being here. And I really appreciate the opportunity was great meeting you too in person. That's kind of rare in today's world, a lot of a lot of my guests I've met virtually. But what I found really outstanding was just talking to you and your father there at the MC in in Las Vegas was to hear about your organization. And we're gonna learn more about that. But first, I want to dig into your time in the Marines. Would you mind talking to the audience about where you were stationed? Why you chose the Marine Corps and talk about like some of your deployments as well.

Chris Torres: 4:11

Yeah, no prob. So, um, you know, my father is a marine as well. So followed suit kind of, sort of, well, I joined the Marine Corps in 2002. And, you know, I it was a decision I made after kind of just figuring out like, you know, you gotta you gotta done what high school you don't have no direction or, or what's really going on with life. And that was a big football star, where I grew up, and I thought that was going to be the end of the tunnel. But you know, that's, that's small present. So I ended up joining the Marine Corps, and I was probably the best decision I made it, you know, it made me who I was or who I am now. During my tenure in the Marine Corps, I actually, I was air wing guy. So I have Marine Corps Air when I was a maintenance administration specialist. Did that for four years until I got my secondary MOS. So I'm assuming there's a lot of military people that watch this podcast. So MOS military occupational specialty. After my first enlistment, I got a secondary MOS, which was a database analyst. So I analyze basically all the defects that came off planes when they landed and you know, I provided mission capability rates to the squadrons and just very analytical job. I did that for 14 years, deployment wise. I did Iraq, Afghanistan, it actually eight deployments. While I was in I did eight, u five UDPS. And three combat deployments. And it was a it takes a toll, as you know, from when you when you deploy, it takes a toll on family, it takes a toll on you mentally. And I just got an appointment in the Marine Corps, which I don't knock it it just it was time for me to take the next step, close that book, close a chapter in that book and start renewing and writing the next chapter. But yeah, you know, I've served my time. And, you know, I've had since the Marine Corps is different. So obviously, we you know, we have a lot of different branches. And a lot of people say, Actually, we met the guy that created a CRT was at the crowns ready to eat. Frank. Yeah, Frank. But um, you know, we Marines are very tight knit group of, of individuals. That's why they're called The Few The Proud. And, you know, I actually yesterday, I got a phone call for one of my buddies who, you know, went to go meet his maker, and those are the type of things that that are tight with Marines, and we kind of stay in touch. So we're going to take care of him at the end of the month. But um, yeah, that was my time in the Marine Corps. I don't regret a day of it. I got to see a lot of the world and it's actually put me in the position now to do what I'm doing, which is impacting our community and using those pillars of success that I came to, were instilled from from the Marine Corps and having that honor, courage, commitment, and instilling that noun Are you.

KP: 7:06

Yeah, no doubt about it. I agree, like military service in itself is a great transition. If you're not going to be going to college right after high school, or if you are, if you somehow incorporate the reserves or the National Guard into that next step. I think that that only enhances your overall leadership abilities. I know a lot of folks that leave high school that go straight into college, and they don't serve in the military. Well, the thing about the military that's so great, in my opinion, is the fact that they put you out front early. I mean, I was a I was enlisted in the National Guard, then I went active duty as an officer. So at 23 years old, I found myself in Iraq in charge of a platoon. How many 23 year olds can say that right? So

Chris Torres: 7:49

It makes you grow up fast.

KP: 7:51

Oh, yes, you grew up really fast, really fast. And so I'm sure that had a lot to do with your overall professional development. It sounded like you were a pretty big high school star. What state was that in?

Chris Torres: 8:03

New Jersey, North Bergen New Jersey, North Bergen Bruins. So I was running back there was good times. Man, you guys, I still stay in contact with some of those guys that I played football with back in the day. As a matter of fact, one of them's my best friend. I was the best man at his wedding. He went on and played at a Brian University, we have a couple guys that made it the one. So I mean, it's a football sport in general, not just football. But sport in general is a very, almost military like ideal, you know, organization. So

KP: 8:38

yeah, no doubt, I tell you what, in between the discipline that it takes for a collegiate athlete to go to practice, maintain grades, maintain time management, all those things, as well as like the military, it's, at the end of the day, I think it's even more impressive to be a collegiate athlete, or more impressive to be in the military while going to college, because I think there's a whole nother side to professional development, that that also enhances as well. And you know that all this led you to eventually start your nonprofit, which is future stars sports clinic. And so would you mind talking to us about what that's all about?

Chris Torres: 9:16

Man, this thing is a great program. So if you just started SPORTS CLINIC incepted. In 2017, I had just got back, I was actually a contractor now. So I contract for special operations. And I just got back from Africa. And unfortunately, one of the Navy SEALs that were on our operations that passed on that, that operation that we were supporting. And it was a very, it was very close to home. So at that point, I say, You know what? I had just had my son. My son is a six year old, he's six now his first name is Captain. There's a military aspect again, right? And I just said, You know what, I gotta I gotta come back home. So I ended up leaving that job and working for mission planning, supporting pentagon and program managers and stuff. And at that time, until my wife was like, hey, I want to give back to the community. I want to start coaching football. I want to get back to my roots. And I went to the city here in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. And I asked if they needed any volunteers to coach and what ended up happening was, they did and I showed up and when I showed up, the head coach I was supposed to be coaching under didn't show up. So I became the head coach, and what I took over a team before Walton B Each Bulldogs, which if I moved my camera, you'd be able to see on my on my on my wall behind me. That team was oh, and eight, the year prior me being there. And this is kids that are eight to 10 years old. So we did a draft, they do a draft down here. So they get all the kids and we get to all the coaches get to run drills with them. And then they take you into coaches go in a room. And we basically pick from you know, what are the worst worst record last year, you get the first pick, you know, just like normal drafts. And obviously, we had the worst record because we were oh eight. And we draft it up. And at the end of that season, we were eight and oh, and we were into the championship. And that mean, that's just astronomical changes. And the kid the kids that are on our team, there was 19 of them. And I reason I know that is because I told every single one of them, you're not going to quit. And we start with 19, we end with 19. And how I know that because I'm a big Eagles fan. And I have a jersey that's number 19 that the kids got me at the end of the season. So fly Eagles fly over a Super Bowl in two weeks. But um, we went into the championship on defeated and we lost. And obviously the kids were upset. But you know, we've made extreme strides for the better. But here's where the kicker was. And this is what I've set the future stars football clinic at the time. The kids weren't upset, because they lost they were upset because the the friendship and the family environment that I created with them was going to go away because none of these kids went to the same elementary schools. There's so many elementary schools on here. So now that the season was over, they're not going to see them anymore. And when I seen that and realize that, I looked at my coaches and I said we need to do this on a bigger scale. And at that point, future stars football clinic was incepted. And what it did was football, we would do football, leading up to football starting or signing up for the season. But what we will do is teach the fundamentals, how to play the game in a noncontact non competitive environment, basically, creating a safe environment. So when they put a helmet on and their front of a coach, they have somewhat of an idea what's going on, which does two things, it makes the game safer. And it makes the game more strategic for the coach that's getting these kids, instead of having to teach them from scratch, they have an idea. And that's what started this program. But but we want it to be as a step different from your normal clinic. We took these kids and teach them the fundamentals of the sport over five Saturdays in a row for free, because we get the community to back the program. And out of those five Saturdays one of those Saturdays has nothing to do with football. And these are kids that are ages six to 13. And what we do is we take them when we do a community service event with those kids. So I think our first year we did a food drive. The second year, we did a beach cleanup, and last year, which was our fifth year, we actually had 350 kids on the beach planning CEOs to preserve our beaches down here in Florida 250,000 CEOs got planted last year by our program. So it's it that's that's what delineates us from your normal conditioning and sports and drills clinic. So

KP: 13:38

yeah, it's absolutely amazing. So how many kids today do you currently have to currently serve?

Chris Torres: 13:44

All right, so she's from 2017, we had 68, kids show up 2018 was 110 2019 was 150 2020 was 250 2021 was 250. Again, right around the same. And last year, we had 350. So we've impacted a lot of kids.

KP: 14:06

Wow, growing up. And so that family environment that you created, would you say that it's very similar to sort of the environment that you experienced while you were in the Marine Corps while you were stationed in certain places or maybe even deployed?

Chris Torres: 14:20

For sure. I mean, a lot of those basic fundamentals and basic ideals that the Marine Corps instilled in me, we're just instilling it at a lower level with these kids. And what we're doing is teaching them those, those five pillars of success that we implement over those five weeks, which is practice, teamwork, focus, discipline, and respect. Without without those, I mean, that has a lot to do with sport, but it has to do a lot with life. And if you follow those at this pivotal age six to 13 You're going to be a future star, whatever you choose to be that no pun intended. That's why the name of the program is called future stars. And I think like I said it was future stars football clinic, we've just recently changed the name to future Star Sports Clinic. And what why we did that was because we're going to now implement for more sports over the next two to three years, which will allow us to impact four times as many youths in our community and basically you know, we want it we want to do this as a whole because society right now in both me and you know, it's not where I believe it should be you know, there's a lot of selfishness there's a lot of He is not giving back. And this is, this is the way that I believe I've been given a platform to impact our youth. So we can see change in the future. Again, there's that word future.

KP: 15:43

I agree with you 1,000% On that there's a lot of adults today that have gone through that gone through a lot overcome obstacles have experience, but are failing to reach back and share those lessons learned. And it's simple mentoring. And it's so funny how whenever I help someone, a young adult, navigate into what career field they want to get into how other adults around me are kind of looking at me like why like, Why do you care? Like, why are you because I get very, very passionate about it, because I do care. Like, I know what it's like, not understanding not knowing not having any guidance at all, when you're walking into something or going into something, whether it was, you know, sort of getting into the military or whether it was becoming an officer deploying, a lot of times, I don't know about you, but I found myself walking into a dark room and not having anyone really to talk to you or ask questions that would give me the time or day and then those times when I did have help or a mentor, it was really refreshing to make an informed decision. So at the end of the day, I really think that you're building, you are building future stars and future future leaders. And I find it funny how sometimes, how an unfortunate event like a coach not showing up sort of evolves into an opportunity like this into now you're 300 Kids strong, and you're changing lives. For so many families out there, you know, and, you know, I understand that your organization works specifically with the Florida, Florida Panhandle, right. And and you you know, you've expanded to, you know, a total of five sports now. Talk about those sports, and whether or not you plan on expanding the geographical locations as well.

Chris Torres: 17:34

Oh, perfect. Yeah, no problem. So, again, you know, it is a mentorship program where we're just using sport as a as a vehicle to mentor these kids. So a lot of our volunteers that are part of this program, they're active duty, veterans, special operators, coaches, parents, so you know, we it's a full circle program, we get the military involved, as well, as matter of fact, I think the seven Special Operations Group is going to be involved heavily with our clinic this April. And the reason I wanted to involve them was because I actually connected with Ruben Ayala from triple nickel that was out at a MC when we were out there

Unknown: 18:14

as well. Really well. They're actually printing our shirts this year. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah,

Chris Torres: 18:21

they're printing assurance. Because triple nickel right? Yeah, you got five. There's a synergistic number again, oh, five, five pillars, five clinics. You know, 555, triple nickel, I wore number five, when I played football, I grew up on Fifth Street, you know? So and then now like to answer that question, we are evolving into five sports. So we're going to slow play that we're going to, basically football is what we stood up for the past five years, there's a number five again. But we're gonna, at the end of this year, when implemented probably baseball and soccer. And we're going to do a one day clinic instead of five to kind of stand it up, find the right person to stand it up. And then that way, at the end of this year, we will we've had three different sports that we've ran. Then next year, we're going to run two more probably either Basketball, basketball, and one more, we don't know what the sport is going to be. Right now at this point, we're going to see what interest comes from the community. And then we'll stand up that one as well with a one day pilot clinic. So at the end of 2024, we've had already ran five different sports. When we go into 2025, those four new sports went to run for three days. That will we have a fundamental clinic, a conditioning clinic, and then a community service clinic, because we've got to make sure that we implement that because that's what stands apart. And then we'll make sure we do three and then I say by the end of 2025, we're going to be running future Star Sports Clinic 25 weeks out of the year. And when that's done the baselines there, the architecture is there, where now we have a headquarters here down in Fort Walton Beach and we can pick this program out and take it to communities outside of Florida that need future Star Sports claim to impact their community as well. So, that is the that is the manifestation that is the idea is just getting there requires I know you've heard the phrase, it takes a village. So we got a we don't want these kids to pay $1 for this program. So you know, we depend on the community, business sponsors and everybody to just support this program so we can continue growing and continue impacting communities. You here and abroad.

KP: 20:32

I'll tell you what man things like the military influencer conference did an outstanding job as far as connecting so many folks. You mentioned triple nickel. And you mentioned Rubin, and Chris McPhee, that whole group in itself is an outstanding group. And then earlier you mentioned Frank Frank man TAO. And the thing that I love about this man is like, things are coming in circles. And it's like, you know, they're helping you out, you're also supporting them. And I think that was the best thing about the military influencer conference that that took place. And it's, I think it's absolutely amazing that they're going to be part of your journey to grow, and that you have such big aspirations going forward. And things have grown, literally from 19, kids to over 300 Kids, now, you're doing a lot, and you're getting a lot done, and you're changing a lot of lives, man, and I gotta give you a mad praise for that. Because I love mentoring, I love trying to get folks that are behind me coming up my path, just to make sure they don't have to have the same obstacles that I had. So they can be even better than me. And there's nothing better than seeing that over time, watching young adults evolve into a better professional, then I was making better decisions than I did. I think that's what fuels me more than anything else. And during your time in the Marine Corps, you know, Can Can you talk about how your time and service played into your entire decision to do this nonprofit and reach back to start future stars?

Chris Torres: 22:05

So that my time and service, you know, when I when I was promoted to when I got to the staff NCO ranks, you know, it gets political. And I mean, you know, you're an officer, you know, they say, you got the enlisted side, and then you got the dark side, you know, I mean, yes, yes. You can, I noticed that when I was in and when I got promoted and realized, you know, I'm, I'm gonna give myself a two year reenlistment, and let me see what this really looks like. And I think within the military as well, we need some mentoring, as well. And I think some people got, they get to a level of, of time and grade or even just rank and they forget that it's about the institution, it's about the unit, you know. And when you forget that, you you've kind of thrown away a lot of the basic information or basic basic values that you got when you went to bootcamp. So when I seen that, and I got out, that's one of the main reasons why I got out. But again, it's just it was just a, it was a decision, I think I needed to make a genuine retire. So like I'm out on my own, because I felt it was the right decision make at the time. And anyway, it was I don't regret it, they have it. But it also allowed me to realize it's about the unit, it's not about me, and actually had a conversation with Colonel Dwyer, who is the CEO of the seventh Special Operations Group. And, man, if you ever get a chance to talk to any special operators, they're different group of human beings. And you know, I got to talk to him to get his guys to come and volunteer. But Colonel Dwyer, you know, in 2007, he was hit with RPG, he's missing an arm, he's missing an eye. And that's one of the things he did tell me, it stuck deep with me, because, believe it or not, he pulled his eye out in the conference room, and he goes, Hey, I want to tell you something, because what you're doing is amazing. But my, if you look at it, I have employment, and he had the seventh Special Forces Group emblem in his eye. And he goes, he told me the whole story. And I said, you know, I appreciate him have to share that with me. That's, that's, you know, that's near and dear to somebody's heart. And I appreciate that. But what he said after that, because I did it for a specific reason I put that emblem there. So when I wake up in the morning, and I look myself in the in the in the face, and look myself in the mirror, and I see that emblem and reminds me it's not about me, it's about the unit. And for everything he's gone through and what's going on. And you know, it's just to hear somebody as humble as that, that that just drives people like me to do this even more to impact you to impact and make change for the future. Because if you really think about it, what are we really doing everybody has a story and our story should and always hope and inspire other people to be better versions of themselves.

KP: 25:04

was definitely man when you said that about Colonel Dwyer that kind of gave me goosebumps

Chris Torres: 25:11

you should have seen how I was driving home from from that from that conversation.

KP: 25:17

That's deep man. Like honestly, that's, that's that's pure. That's pure compassion man and just being loyal to something more than just money. You know? And that's, that's something the world is our society today is so surrounded by the importance of money, and plenty of materialistic money, materialistic stuff, and we forget about the drive, to take care of people and to help people out, you know, and it's great to connect with folks like you, Chris, because at the end of the day, you know, you're doing you're doing outstanding work for so many families out there, man. And I'm not just when I was reading your your website and and taking a look at some of the videos and stuff on there. And you're not just involved in holding camps. But for my understanding, you're also involved with programs to help kids pay for cleats. You're also involved with helping kids go to actual college football camps as well. I mean, you're doing so many things out there. Can you talk to us a little bit about that as well?

Chris Torres: 26:15

Hey, yeah, I'm glad you brought it up. So the cleats thing that actually it was my is not really mine. So we had a participant that came into my program. He was a participant when he was 10. And he was there for three years. And now he's a junior in high school, Anthony Gassaway. And now he's a volunteer for the program. So you know, he's, he's like, getting promoted. Well, and 20 I think last two years ago, was his freshman year in high school. And I didn't know but his mom had told me and said, hey, you know, Anthony didn't play football as freshmen. I was like, why he had an ACL tear. I didn't know I normally follow up so bad on me. I was following my kids. So I said, Oh, man, that sucks. How's uh How's his therapy going? How was surgery as a coach was the first thing your eyes and said everything's fine. He's from Nevar, Florida, Michael Carter running back from the Jetsons from Northern Nevar as well. And she told me I'm Michael has been texting him and welcome to the process. I text Mike automatically and Mike, this is a good K man, thank you for you know, it's not so often as a high school athlete, you have NFL player telling you hey, man, you're gonna get through it, you know, I mean. And so, long story short, at the end of our fourth annual futuresource football clinic, my VP, also the guy who wrote me and said this program who was a coach with the Bulldogs, when we did the inception his program. He wanted to do a fishing trip to commemorate, you know, our fourth annual football clinic and also was my first year coaching middle school football and we had a championship run and he goes, Hey, we're going to commemorate you winning your first championship and middle school kind of Jinx because we lost in the first round of the playoffs. But um, he's like, we're gonna go catch tuna. We want to catch a big fish. That's okay. I said planet. And we'll just make it happen. Just let me know how much so I think that was in June when he called me when he was planning it. And you know, when you say circles, because you said, you know, everything comes back and comes around is full circle. I have my dad, who's also the veteran, he has his Air Force guy that comes and hangs out in the neighborhood. They talk politics and all that stuff. So I went to tell him about this fishing trip, I went to the house and he goes, Hey, I got this one fishing charter. They're called all in or out and, and he gave me the card. And I said, I think my buddy already planned it. But I hold on to it and see what's up. And I let it be my buddy calls me a month later, my VPN says, Hey, Coach, it's all it's all planned out. It's done. We need one more person to go on this trip. And you know what the only person I was able to think about was Anthony. So I say, you know, I got the perfect kid, man. We're going to bring Anthony I'm going to pay for his trip that way. It's an opportunity. You know, we're going to a tow bar fishing trip and a catch tuna. And he was like, Cool. Let's do it. So I takes Anthony and his mom's Hey, opportunity and fishing trip. 12 hours you want to go? They said, Yeah. A month after that. I, you know, I reached in my wallet. I saw that our in Charter Business Card. I went on a limb I took a picture of since my VPS said, Hey, I don't know how deep you are with this presentation with a charter that you book but call these guys I heard they're very good. Here's your first coincidence. When I sent him the picture. He called me back and said that's what we're going with. Wow, who what are the odds of that happening? And, and this story is going to tie into this Cleese thing. So give me one segment. I appreciate you. So I think a month after that, Anthony's mom messaged me and tells me Hey, Coach, I want to talk to you about Anthony. And she calls me says, Hey, Anthony, his brother was murdered last week. And not only was he murdered, Anthony was on the phone way with him when it happened. And they were playing video games Call of Duty and then everything just went out and nobody knew what happened. So his brother was older. He was a big, you know, mentor for him for football. So I said mom Anthony needs this trip. I can't I can't say more of it. So October rolls around. We go on the trip. So a lot of trips, six guys, Anthony being one of them. And I told the guys hey, if that reel starts screaming with a tuner if he doesn't mind, I hope I let it let Anthony catch the first fish, which he did. And those pictures are on our website. And it was the wild three hours and then we ended up not catching any more tuna, but we caught like 350 pounds of fish. And Coach G my VP was like, Hey, we're supposed to catch tuna. Coach, I'm kind of pissed. We pay good money for this and say, Man, it's not about you is about Anthony is about this kid has been the experience. And on our way back from the trip. Anthony was like, I got a chance to mentor him. But I hear koji tolko the deckhand and the deckhand is 18 Rokinon Tyler, and they're talking about this fish that coach Geez, dad caught in shoot, I forget. But it was the biggest King Mac whatever coming destined was 65 pounds. And come to find out. We were on the same boat. That coach G dad caught that 60 pounds 65 pound macro and because his dad passed away from COVID, the year prior. So I looked over his you see, you're trying to be selfish and just an opportunity of closure with your dad. Now how does this tie into this? The cleats. There's a foundation in enterprise Alabama called the remember my Cal foundation. I met them through one of my sponsors, I once my sponsors, open house, and I didn't talk to anybody I've set, Mike and Michelle Smith. I didn't know what they were about. But I told them Anthony story, and they got very quiet. And he goes, we want to support what you do. We give kids cleats and this and the other. So he gives me his card. And I didn't know anything about his foundation. And he calls me the Wednesday after that and says, Hey, Coach Torres, it's Mike Smith, I met you at CJ signs and designs. And he goes me and my wife, we heard your story and they hit a nerve. And the nerve hit was because their son was murdered the day before Thanksgiving. That same year. So it was it's the stories aligned. And so basically goes, Hey, Coach, I want to you know, help you out. I want to give cleats to kids as well. So we have 350 kids, I don't know if you can do that. But I think we should do this. How about I recommend you start a scholarship. And we call it the remember Michael scholarship in partnership with future Star Sports Clinic. And what we'll do is we'll give that to an outstanding student athlete that comes in volunteers. Needless to say, Who do you think our first nominee was? Man? Exactly. It was Anthony. And we and it was a $250 scholarship, you know, nothing too crazy. But we presented it to him in front of all the kids. And you know, Anthony's mom went to the car they had their moment. And obviously it's emotional moment is still fresh. I get a phone call from Anthony. And Anthony says, Hey, Coach, I want to thank you for this a 50 year old kid. Coach, I want to thank you for nominating me for this scholarship. And the reason I did so you know, my coach's name doesn't get forgotten either. Because future stars isn't going anywhere. So that partnership will always be there. But Anthony said, Hey, me and my family pretty well off our $50 I want to add it to the 250. And Coach, I want you to help me figure out how I can give kids cleats. So he started cleats for stars Anthony did, and I created the the logo for him, we put it on the website. So he didn't have to start a nonprofit that we that we have falls in with what we're doing. He said we call it police resource because I wanted to I want people to know where where it incepted from it and set different future stars. And now I mean, he's already, you know, he's a 615, six year old kid, you know, and we empowered him with doing that to remove the negativity that was currently in his life and provide positivity to show him and teach them how to give back how to change people's lives. And you know, his life itself was impacted. And, you know, that just shows you the program is working. Because nobody asked Anthony to do that. He did that on his own. So that's where at least for stars came from. I know it was a little long winded, but it's a story that people need to hear.

KP: 34:15

It makes sense, because I was looking at the website and I see McHale Foundation, and I see your first nominee. And it ties everything in together. And it makes sense now like who this person is why it's so why it's so memorable and important for him to be the first the first nominee and the first recipient of this. So how old is he? No.

Chris Torres: 34:38

He's 15.

KP: 34:40

Wow. Yeah, amazing. Amazing. 15 years old, and it's already running a and

Chris Torres: 34:47

as soon as we started his campaign, he started his campaign he raised $3,000 in 24 hours.

KP: 34:53

Wow. Absolutely amazing. I'll make sure that I put that in the show notes for this podcast.

Chris Torres: 35:01

We've already started giving clean up the kids and everything. So cleaning equipment is as simple as I'm going to the site and requesting it. I go to Anthony and he makes the decision and we make the purchase and get into the kids that need it. Yeah,

KP: 35:13

there's so many branches involved with your nonprofit like cleats, cleats for stars. And then you also have the other program where you're paying for the students or I'm sorry, the athletes to go to college like real college football camps as well. Right

Chris Torres: 35:30

Yes, sir, those are all our student athletes that come from the local community, high schools, they're affording their time as volunteers, whatever residual funding we have leftover for that year. If we have, if we have the funding, we take them and we take them to the Nick Saban, Alabama, of football camp, when we take them to any campus, local, you know, all those poor kids and we took last year for sophomores in high school, these are opportunities that they probably would have never seen. But again, you know, all that is solely dependent on the community and people donating and sponsoring this program, because at the end of the year, we expend all that funding. And then we do it all over again, it's a rinse and repeat process. So currently, we are in the works of getting grant level sponsorship, which will kind of remove the financial burden. So we can focus solely on making future stars what it's supposed to be your future Star Sports Clinic was supposed to be and not have any financial concern and just impact live. So I mean, it brings it it brings a smile and a gleam. So I just knowing that that's going to come because this program is just that genuine.

KP: 36:43

Yeah. And just to underline again, future stars is a program that charges zero to the athletes that are getting involved with it. $0. So I mean, there's really no excuses. I mean, especially in a world like today, I had a buddy of mine whose son is going to be graduating this year as a senior rewind back to four years ago, as he was going into into high school, we would go to the gym and workout and I was talking to his son about the importance of surrounding yourself with scholar athletes. You know, I was telling him, hey, if you hang out with five idiots that makes you the sixth idiot. So I said, it's really important as you go into high school to hang out with scholar athletes. And I said, you know, because my own personal experience, I played football, wrestled ran track in high school. And I was like wrestling was probably even though I love football. Wrestling, for me was probably one of the most humbling sports that I ever did. And I told him, I said, if you're not going to play football, because he's a little undersized, I say you need to consider getting into wrestling. Because so much adversity, just you and somebody else on the mat. There's really no one else to blame but yourself if you win or lose. And anyways, this kid had his own intestinal fortitude to freshman year, start wrestling. And here we are. Four years later, he literally his entire team just won their conference here in LA. And he's just he just an amazing, amazing young man. And, you know, it's sports to me is so important. And so I'm, I'm so glad that I actually got a chance to talk to you today. And you mentioned Michael Carter earlier, being one of the athletes that supports the program. Would you mind talking about some of the other professional athletes out there as well, and maybe some of the major sponsors that you've had to support this program? Awesome. Yeah,

Chris Torres: 38:28

for sure. So I was you know, we operate in in April, every Saturday in April. So at the end of every clinic, we have a guest speaker, whether it's NFL player, whether it's a motivational speaker, whether it's you know, just someone who's going to uplift and kind of maybe turn a light bulb on to some of the teenagers are just some of the youth that we have in the program. You can see some of these pictures behind me so we have Robert Davis, he played for the Eagles you got to know the eagle to kill spikes down there. So there's a lot of pictures that are actually here behind me. These are all athletes who have come to the clinic or that I know personally who support what we do. And you know we want to get more athletes to come down to Florida destin areas beautiful area and you know, come down a few stars football clinic come down to visit our sports clinic while we do baseball, soccer, you know, we want you to come down. Jared Johnson is another one he played for the Ravens alongside Ray Lewis he he's one of our sponsors, who runs black rifle coffee up here in Niceville. Florida was in Florida Power and Light just became a sponsor. We have I can go sponsor why so many, because our donation levels so low. I look at it as I think right now we have about 65 local and national sponsors. And that's a lot of it's some of it could be unkind, some of it is monetary. But I look at it as we keep it low, because I want sponsorship in quantity. Because myself my board and my team we provide the quality on the field. And it takes like I said earlier it takes a village so if this is something you believe in, and you believe in investing in our youth, you believe in sport, any type of sport. Look at what we're doing. Look at what we're going to bring to a city near you support it, donate it, you know, in 10 $5 It doesn't have to be a lot but it's going to make a difference and we've done so much with so little for the past six years, it's time to make the sky the limit. And that's where we need to really get behind. So if you're watching this and a fellow players, if you know NFL players, put them in touch with us, put them on our website now and check stuff out. But that's really what it boils down to is bringing awareness to a program that is going to change communities in the future.

KP: 40:55

And no doubt about it. If you are someone that's listening out there, and you have connections with pro athletes that can even just show support for this in any way, whether it be on social media or in person, please check out the website, it'll be down in the description. If you're watching this on YouTube, check the description out. If you're on audio and audio platform, check out the show notes down there. I will link the main website as well as coach Chris's Instagram and Facebook. But if anyone out there is interested in connecting with you, coach besides Instagram, Facebook, and the website, which has your email address and phone number on there, What's are you on any other platforms not mentioned?

Chris Torres: 41:39

I'm on LinkedIn. But all of that's on the website, you scroll down to the bottom says contact us you have our our LinkedIn or YouTube or Facebook or Instagram. There's, there's no reason not to get in contact with us. I want to hear from you. I want to talk to you. I want to inspire you. And hopefully you know when it's time to move this to other geographical areas of the United States, we find somebody that has the passion that I do that wants to give back and let's collaborate let's let's let's link up and let's make this happen. Because it's not too far when you just started coming to the city near you.

KP: 42:14

Yeah, if you have a love for sports, and you have a passion for reaching back and helping out others, and seeing the fruits of your labor, I mean, that's the biggest thing for me is actually watching young adults grow into professionals is what energizes me and gets me, you know, going and gets me fueled. So my hat's off to you for doing such a great creating such a great organization doing such a great job. Now, before we end the episode today, coach, do you have any advice for folks out there in the military community? Maybe someone that's thinking about starting a nonprofit themselves? Or someone that might be interested in taking that step forward, but might have some reservations about it?

Chris Torres: 42:59

I sure do. And I'm sure you can talk on this too, once I say it. So if you are venturing on, you know become an entrepreneur, or becoming you know, running your own nonprofit have something that you believe in. It's like we were in Vegas, right? Was Vegas known for it's known for betting? No, you go out there, you bet you don't play some crabs play blackjack and put you taking a chance. Right? If you believe in what it is, that you're wanting to do, bet on yourself. Take the risk and bet on yourself. You know what I'm telling you that and I'm, I'm looking directly at you if you're listening, bet on yourself. Because if you're gonna bet on yourself, you can't lose, you're not going to lose. If you bet on yourself, just go ahead and go do it. And it's going to be tough. So it's not hard. I mean, it's not easy. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, I can tell you right now, I'm still not where we need to be. But it's all part of the process. And you have to go through that process, we got to grind to get where it needs to be. None of these, none of people that have been successful, are successful on their own. So you got to make sure that you, you know, you grab just like you said earlier, you know, surround yourself with scholar athletes. One thing that my dad always told me, tell me who you hang with, I'll tell you who you are. So, look at your surroundings, make sure you're on the right people, and take whatever you believe in, and go full force and bet on yourself. Because if you're going to do that you're going to be successful. And the one thing like our slogan for future stars is, if we believe we can, then we will, all it takes is one person to believe in you. The rest is up to you.

KP: 44:37

That's great advice. And that's true. Sounds like you're really creating a great family down there with these kids. With those 19 that you started with, you know, and to the 300 that you have today, you keep doing the great job that you do. And Coach, I really appreciate you giving us the opportunity to get to know more about your organization. And for anyone out there listening. Please check out the website. You know if you can support this in some way, shape or form, even if it's through sharing through social media, follow him on Instagram, follow him on Facebook, share some of the stories that he's got going on. Because at the end of the day, this is this is our future. This is tomorrow's generation coming up and we need to build leaders. Our society today certainly needs it more than more than ever. So Coach, thank you so much for joining us on the morning formation. I really appreciate it

Chris Torres: 45:28

Sacra Fidelis

KP: 45:31

Hey folks, and for everyone else out there, please check out the website, check him out on social media. And as always, I want you to stay tuned, stay focused, and stay motivated. Warriors fallout. You've been listening to the morning formation podcast. I hope you found today's materials helpful and of value to your current situation. You can connect with me on Instagram at the underscore morning underscore formation underscore podcast. Or you can connect with me via email at the formation podcaster@gmail.com. Also, I would like to thank my partners at act no education for their support, authenticity, community and trusted is what you can expect from all members of the Act now education team. You can link up with them today and learn about some new free educational resources on their Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or at their website act now education.com whether today's show took you back to an historic time or helped you think about tomorrow. Thank you for tuning in. And I look forward to seeing you again. Stay safe and stay motivated. Warriors Fallout