Bucs Zyon McCollum talking with kids. (Rock Riley) TAMPA, Fla. - Bigger is better. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in launching their Youth Leadership P
TAMPA, Fla. – Bigger is better. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in launching their Youth Leadership Program for the 4th year, are taking on more kids and partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay to help kids break down barriers to racial and social equality.
Current Bucs players, including linebacker Lavonte David, safety Antoine Winfield Jr, running back Rachaad White, guard Nick Leverett, defensive lineman Will Gholston, and cornerback Carlton Davis, just to name a few, were on hand to talk and mentor kids from Young Middle Magnet School and Webb Middle School in Tampa at the AdventHealth training facility.
“These are the things that I needed when I was younger,” Leverett said. “It’s just a big way to pay it forward. “It can spark the kids’ minds. The kids are the next generation. To be able to give back, spend time with them, let them know, yeah, we’re Bucs players, but we’re human just like you all, and you know, just to give them that love.”
The CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay, Chris Letsos, says some of these kids have never been out of their neighborhoods, let alone be at an NFL facility seeing and talking with Tampa Bay Buccaneers players.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these young people,” said Letsos. “It’s realizing that someone as important as a player cares about me as a 6th grader. We know that we’re able to go big with these littles. Go big with the Bucs and really change some lives.”
The Bucs created the program as part of the team’s Social Justice Initiative in 2018 with a $1,000,000 commitment by the Glazer family.
New this year is the partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay, and it’s doubling in size of both mentors and kids that are able to get this experience. The mentors are Bucs players and staff, along with the “Bigs with Badges” from the Tampa Police Department.
In all, there were plenty of smiles to go around from everyone inside the Advent Health Training Center on Monday.
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