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Nicole Gonzales reporting Salt Lake City's Glendale community hasn't been known for its safety over the years. Just this past March, two robbers shot and killed Wally Knapton, the owner of the Family Dollar store on Glendale Drive.
Now some former gang members are trying to give the neighborhood a lift by playing football. It may sound like a stretch, but it's a small step leading to big results.
The program, called "Stand A Little Taller" (SALT), is aimed at getting youth off the street. It gives troubled high-school students and gang members a chance to turn their lives around. Most of all, it gives them something to be proud of: playing ball.
Hitting and yelling associated with football practice are not sounds that bring to mind a peaceful sport. Yet the SALT program is trying to promote just that: peace. Former gang member Rene Martinez said, "[There's] so much negativity out there, with everything going on. As long as you have hope like these guys do, you've got something to shoot for. You've got fire in your heart."
That fire once was misdirected into gangs, drugs and violence. A lot of the young men on this team have been in juvenile detention or prison.
The SALT program director, Kaisa Kinikini, says he started the program because he was a Tongan Crip gang member a long time ago. Now he wants to be a positive role model and coach for these young people. Kinikini says four local gangs are represented on his team, gangs that usually don't get along.
"In the game of football we prove that wrong. Obviously something's working if they're not out here fighting against each other," he said.
The program isn't just about football. Kinikini says education is the only way out of the lifestyle of the streets. He mentors the young men with the help of assistants, from their freshman year of high school on up. They help with classes and standardized tests needed to get into college and hopefully play NCAA ball.
There's also a second-chance program for young men out of high school who want to pursue college dreams.
Paul Tuakala, 20, wants a higher education. He's been in trouble since he was an adolescent and still has family in jail. Tuakala says this program is helping him get his life turned around.
"Just being out here on this field, I don't do it for myself. I do it for them, too. I do it for them. They wish they could be out here. They wish they had that chance to do what we're doing, but it was too late for them," he said.
This program is changing lives, one catch at a time.
The teams rely solely on individual and business donations so the players don't have to buy uniforms or equipment. Tomorrow on Eyewitness News at 6, we'll tell you about one particular player who went from inmate to inspiration.
E-mail: ngonzales @ksl.com
