2 Sports, 2 Athletes, 1 City and a Great Win for Kansas City

Heart, hustle, and passion was poured into our community this past weekend through Winners Circle Weekend 2023. Over the weekend something special happened here in Kansas City. Two professional athletes, born and raised here, came to give back to everyone – with the youth first in mind.

Phoenix Suns Forward Ish Wainright and Detroit Lions Forward Charles Harris dedicated their 2023 Winners Circle Weekend to providing a networking mixer/panel for young professionals, elite sport skills camps for both youth basketball & football players, and an impactful block party that definitely brought our community closer together. With everything being 100% FREE! Kicking off the weekend, Ish and Charles, moderated the ‘Making Moves’ panel that featured Nia Richardson (Manager Director of KC BizCare), Joshua I. Lewis (Founder of Updown App Inc. & Kin Seltzer), and Nassir Criss (Senior Associate at Sixty8 Capital). The panel featured conversation about what it takes to create a business, funding for your business, and their journey along the way including wins and most importantly their losses turned lessons. Guests mentioned after the panel how overwhelmingly inspired they felt by how in depth the panelist went with their entrepreneurial journey and how being in a room filled with many prominent figures in the KC area made anything feel possible! When panelists were asked in closing “What is the impact you want to leave?”; Nassir left us with “I just want to redefine black wealth”. Many gems were dropped and an incredible amount of networking was accomplished to start the weekend off.

Following the mixer, Saturday morning, Wainright hosted his ‘Ish Wainright Skills Academy’ for both middle and high school youth athletes. As many know, Ish is one of the sons of the legendary Coach Calvin Wainright who helped cultivate not only Kansas City basketball but the overall culture of Kansas City. Mr. Calvin Wainright was a coach and mentor for many young black men around the community; leaving behind a true influential legacy. Ish, an alum of Raytown South, is continuing his fathers footprint on KC. Entering into the E. Marion Kauffman School Saturday morning, young athletes were given shirts that read ‘Ishmail Wainright Skills Academy’ on the front and sponsors for the weekend on the back. The Skills Academy camp began with grades 6-8 boys and girls led by several noteworthy local basketball coaches/players. One of KC Crossover’s very own, our newest professional women’s basketball team, TrEl’Shawn Smith was on the court giving kids her all before a big game that afternoon! Along with the coaches was sidelines full of support including former Missouri Gatorade Player of The Year, Grandview alum, and now current guard for the Detroit Pistons Alec Burks. Kids broke out into groups by age to run through several efficient basketball drills to help continue developing their game and mentality. Coaches passionately assisted kids through each drill station with the emphasis of “high energy” being important for anyone’s game. Ish floated through his skills academy helping kid’s shot etiquette, showing the proper form for a particular drill, and also dropping knowledge of what it takes to be the best athlete you can be to make it to the next level. Charles Harris, who also previously played basketball during his high school years, assisted around the camp motivating kids to give their all and showing how to be great at your respective sport. Following the middle school session was the high school session before wrapping the camp. The level of intensity and passion increased even more as the high schoolers came to lay it out on the court for their camp session. Concluding the camp, customized official NBA Phoenix Suns basketballs were handed out to all participants. Ish took time to sign the basketballs and take pictures with the young athletes before the official closing of the camp. Drills, a game of knockout that included both Ish and Charles, and a lot of hard work was displayed at Ish’s camp leaving coaches, athletes, and parents feeling fulfilled with their love for the game of basketball.

Charles Harris Elite Football Camp the next afternoon was just as electrifying as his camp followed a sudden rain storm that wasn’t going to stop the show! Parents and young athletes still showed up excited and ready to get to work on Lincoln Preps football field. Harris, an alum of Lincoln Prep, assisted in bringing this fairly new field to life in 2018. For those who didn’t know he made a $100,000 donation, along with the NFL donating $250,000, for the new field allowing the school to be able to host home football games and more after years of being unable to. The gridiron grit was on fire on the field this past Sunday. Many Lincoln Prep alum were out to support, including one of the current Winnetonka football coaches Julius Foster IV, who facilitated the flow of the camp. Charles opened the camp with a heartfelt speech on how hisself and alum were reminiscing on how the field used to look vs now and how this is his first camp so this was very special to him. The football field was filled with a lot of notable high school and college football coaches from the greater Kansas City Area. Alongside the coaches included professional players like Alphonso Hodge who was drafted to the Chiefs in 2005 and 2x Super Bowl Champion Kendall Blanton who currently plays for the Chiefs (son of former Chiefs Linebacker Jerry Blanton). The camp for these high school football players were broken out into groups by offense and defense to work on both their mental and physical agility. Charles went around to each group of young men to assist with physically running through the drills and also offering ardent advice to kids. Though this camp called for high school students, it was a handful of younger kids who came and gave just as much energy as the high schoolers! Kendall Blanton spent time working with the younger kids on correct form and encouraging them as he excitedly cheered them on getting through the drills correctly like the older kids. When catching up with the Chiefs Tight End, I asked Kendall a couple questions about his journey.

Lex: What does it mean to you to come back to your hometown and play for the Chiefs?

Kendall Blanton: “Oh it’s a blessing! So, a lot of people don’t know my dad is a little older but he played for the Chiefs back in the day. It’s a blessing to come back here and play. I really haven’t got to put on that jersey like I want to yet. So I got a good feeling about this year and I’m excited about this year.”

Lex: What’s one thing you want to leave behind with these kids today?

Kendall Blanton: “Well, I’m a big believer in God. So, that’s bigger than anything. Bigger than football. Bigger than any work. So if they learn a little bit about faith and what it means; and, especially like through my journey – that’s the biggest thing. It ain’t nothing bigger than that.”

Kendall, like Charles, is also a Mizzou alum and was excited to help assist the next generation of football talent. Charles closed out his camp asking everyone to bring it in close and asking players “how was it?” as the players eagerly yelled out great things. “That’s what it’s all about!” shouted Harris, “Working hard, working on your skill development, challenging each other, competition. Competition not just in football but for life too. It’s not about what you put into it but how you react to it. Life and football go hand and hand. I appreciate y’all, y’all had a great time! I hope you all enjoyed yourself”. Succeeding Harris’s closing speech, former Central Football Coach and now currently at Raysouth DJ Pittel, gave a powerful speech to officially close out the weekend. He talked about the dangers of drugs in our young communities, football players leading by example in their high schools through leadership, and overall how they have the power to do anything they put their mind to. Pittel quoted “Your zip code does not make a determination of the rest of your life. That is a lie! Because you live in the 64128 don’t mean nothing! Alright? Understand that it’s just a zip code. You can either live the uncomfortable truth or live the comfortable lie. It’s up to you”.

Winners Circle weekend was the beginning of something special for years to come in Kansas City. Both Ish and Charles are excited to make an even bigger impact with next year’s weekend.