We've Got Next: Local coach helping at-risk teens avoid the streets

​

SVL FREE NEWS

​

BY BRIDGETT NESBIT
abridgennews@gmail.com

As his love for basketball has grown so has Chris Torrence’s desire to help young men at risk of ending up dead or in jail.

An assistant basketball coach at Statesville High, he also runs a nonprofit traveling basketball organization in his spare time.

Inspired by the 1994 movie, “Above the Rim,” in which a prep basketball star is torn by his loyalties to a drug dealer, Torrence decided to call out young men ages 15 to 18 and adult males ages 18 and older to see if they have game.

The 36-year-old coach thinks basketball can keep young men off the streets and out of trouble.

Iredell County is currently spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a five-story jail expansion.

Torrence hopes his players never see the inside of the 700-bed facility.

“You look on the news and all you see is negative images of youth, especially minority males,” Torrence said. “I see our futures, the next mayor, lawyers, fathers, husbands, community leaders and pastors.”

LOSING TOO MANY TO THE STREETS

A 2001 graduate of Statesville High, Torrence has seen too many parents grieve for the loss of their child.

“Over the years, we’ve lost countless young males due to violence, drugs, jail -- even murder,” he said.

In 2015 his nephew, Jonathan Bridges, as shot and killed in Killeen, Texas, while being “robbed for the shoes he had on his feet,” the coach said.

One of his former players, Tyreke Holmes, lost an older brother, who was gunned down by a gang member.

Just like in the basketball movie that inspired Torrence, young men who have known the bitter taste of poverty since childhood will continue to be drawn to promise of easy money that the streets offer.

It’s time for the community to take a stand.

“Enough is enough,” Torrence explained.

THE MAN BEHIND THE WHISTLE

Torrence began playing basketball around age 5 in his hometown Lenoir.

He began coaching rec league basketball at age 19, and joined the coaching staff of the basketball and football programs at Statesville Middle School in 2009.

That passion also led to the creation of the Carolina Flight Basketball Club.

In 2011 the “Carolina Greyhounds,” a ninth-grade boys basketball team competed in several tournaments, finishing 10th in the State USSSA-Division.

“We’re currently looking to advance our program to four teams, which consist of grades of fifth through 11th grade composed of players in the surrounding counties,” Torrence said.

Local parks, he said, are perfect for basketball programs because research shows that neighborhood involvement can reduce crime and vandalism.

He and his wife Nikki recently announced a partnership with the City of Statesville Recreation and Parks Department.

“She actually had dreams of opening a community recreation facility in her hometown Mooresville,” Torrence said. “It was odd when we met that we had some of the same dreams and she is the backbone to this movement.”

The couple has a volunteer coaching staff that they deem invaluable. Coaches include Jamel Walker, Cedric Mayberry, Melvin Nesbit and Donnie Stewart.

Nikki, also known as “Mama Nikki,” is proud of her husband.

“This is his passion and our dream,” she said. “He doesn’t even realize how many lives he is affecting in a positive way.”

WE’VE GOT NEXT: COMING TO A PARK NEAR YOU

Torrence’s 17-year-old stepson, Devante’ Knox, has been helping the organization since he as in the fifth grade.

“He awesome. He understands this is to help bring our community together and allow us to see what positive things we still have to offer,” Torrence said. “We’ve attended enough funerals of the youth in Statesville due to gang violence, drugs, and enough is enough.”

Marquis Davis, 17, a junior at Statesville High, has played on Coach Torrence’s teams for three years now.

It hurts to see some of the people he grew up taking the wrong path, he said.

“It bothers me that people my age and I’ve known for years are ending up dead or in jail.”

Alternatives like basketball can help, he explained

“It takes the focus off the streets.”

Torrence’s team has provided Davis and other players with a huge support system.

“Coach has been a mentor to me ever since I started. He’s helped me a lot -- not only with my basketball but with actual life problems,” Davis said.

Torrence said that is exactly why the sport and the boys have his heart.

He’s planning a tournament with a rec department and praying that each young man at the games walks off the court confident that he did his best and is excited about what the future holds.

“Some people think that as coaches all we care about is winning games or trophies,” Torrence said. “Not here. … We use the tools of basketball to build the individual and with the hope that they will inherit life skills as the run this race in life.”

LEARN MORE

Email Coach Torrence at christorrence81@gmail.com