Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive lineman Makana Henry doesn’t want to see the youth in Regina make the same mistakes that he made as a kid.
“I made bad decisions growing up, followed the wrong crowd, led the wrong crowd, got in bad spots, made bad decisions. I was being a kid, running around and I thought I was invincible,” Henry said.
So Henry decided to create his own youth mentorship program called Reggie City, which aims to provide children with the opportunity for sport, education and mentorship.
That is why Henry has teamed up with the Wolverines football organization, another non-profit organization that trains athletes from the ages of eight to 18 and introduces football to kids aged five to seven, to build an indoor turf facility.
The purpose of the facility is to provide not only a year-round venue for kids to play sports, but also classrooms for educational purposes and a room for massaging and physiotherapy.
A fundraising goal of $20,000 was set to pay for the indoor turf facility, and Henry said they are about $2,000 short of that at this time, but the turf is set to be delivered within the next week, in hopes of being installed in time for the program’s next sports camp in November.
Henry and Justin Nagy from the Wolverines organization decided to team up on this venture because they share the same values and goals.
“We’re teaching the kids the integrity and brotherhood of the game but there’s other aspects to life than just football. It gives the ability for athletes to come and strengthen their skills as they move forward through their careers,” Nagy said.
Single mother Charlene Lewis, who is also a board member of Reggie City, said she appreciates the opportunities that the program has afforded her daughter, Haylee.
She said the program enables Haylee to go to a camp that’s free, where she gets to interact with other kids that are from situations, like a single-parent home, where they might not have the opportunity to play sports.
“It’s a great opportunity and it’s something that I am honoured to be involved with and help out with. It just helps the community and all the kids that can’t really afford to be in a sport,” Lewis said.
Haylee said she has enjoyed the camps and that they have helped her improve her passing skills.
“The thing I like about it is that we do drills in the beginning and then towards the end of it, we’ll play a couple games. And you get prizes and they have food and drink,” she said.
Overall, Reggie City was founded by Henry to give the youth in Regina a positive outlet for their free time.
“I would just like them to know that no matter where you come from or what you do, it’s never too late for you, you can always make something of yourself,” Henry said.