Chester

By MATTHEW De GEORGE

mdegeorge@delcotimes.com

CHESTER — In Tony Beaty’s vision of a revitalized Chester football team, even the trees aren’t safe.

Beaty, an imposing man whose avocation as a personal trainer is to help people realize the potential within themselves, knows he’ll have to multiply his efforts to cover the 50-some players that came out for tryouts on Ninth Street.

His approach isn’t limited to plays or offensive schemes or drills. It’s a ground-up reconfiguration of every aspect of the Chester football culture, to dredge up that oft-used cliché. Hence, the deforesting threats.

At a recent practice, under pleasant skies and a steady breeze that robbed the August afternoon from the usual late-summer swelter, the former Prep Charter coach noticed a handful of players seeking refuge from wind sprints in the shade provided by a tree just beyond the end zone at the Clippers’ practice field. His solution, less-than-subtly delivered to his players? Get on the line for sprints, or the only thing under that tree the next day would be Beaty, chainsaw in hand.

That’s the kind of earth-moving the first-year coach is promising at Chester. The focus is a grassroots approach, empowering the talented individuals at his disposal to enact and sustain change on the team level.

“My lifelong mission has been building,” Beaty said. “That’s why I took this job. A lot of people wouldn’t take this job because I’ve realized the challenges of the job. But I do this every day. I take kids from little to nothing and make them into something. Just coming here is a larger task, more kids with more issues, but it’s just what I do. This is my mission and my calling in life, to change kids and understand how no matter where you’re from, you can be a positive, productive citizen, whether it’s playing football or just being a trash man.”

Beaty faces a stiff challenge in reversing Chester’s fortunes after the program lost eight games in each of Chuck Crews’ three seasons. The Clippers have just two Del Val wins over the last three seasons.

Beaty’s approach is different than some coaches, even if the objective is similar. A personal trainer who founded Dream Makers Elite Fitness in Clifton Heights where he works with a number of prominent local athletes, Beaty’s focus is on growing each individual, empowering them to believe in themselves and extract every ounce of their potential.

He understands the challenges his kids face off the field, but he truly believes that every one of his pupils have it within themselves to rise above those troubles.

“I tell my kids every day that I love them, the beginning of the practice and at the end the practice,” Beaty said. “To me, it’s very important that they understand and they know that all of our coaches here, we’re not here for the money. We’re here for the passion and the game and because we love our kids.”

One of Beaty’s first exercises in fostering self-esteem was to share the story of Patrick Amara, his adopted son who went from being abandoned by his parents and homeless at age 16 to a standout at West Catholic to earning a scholarship as a defensive back at Pitt. If Amara can surmount those obstacles, Beaty knows his Clippers can.

Early indications are that his methods are being well received. The Clippers’ early camp numbers are hovering around 50, with Beaty enticing regular attendance and dodging the usual off-field pitfalls.

The Clippers have a bevy of talented skill players, led by running back Ed Nelson, a junior starting for a third season. Nelson, who starting training with Beaty at the behest of Crews last year, said Beaty was one of the first people he called when Crews was removed from the position.

Beaty calls Nelson, who earns straight As, his “model student”. It’s a compliment that the determined Nelson receives with the requisite humility to broadcast to the rest of the charges.

“It’s kind of natural because I’ve kind of assumed the leadership role since I was a freshman when I started my freshman year,” Nelson said. “Sometimes it gets weird because people look up to me, and I don’t really think I’m anybody to look up to yet, but it’s natural to be a leader.”

The likes of Hasson Bush and Kquran Matthews provide options for sophomore quarterback Nahmir Ishmail. While he’s still working at grasping the finer points of the offense, Beaty knows he’s got the physical tools for the job.

The line has a ready-made leader in D’Andre Dill, a 6-3, 285-pound junior with immense upside.

“The challenges are to push myself to be as fast as I can be, be the most in shape, be the best person on the field so that I can be better than the player in front of,” Dill said. “Just to be able to move at a faster pace, I have to push myself to be better, push our lineman to be better.”

The Clippers know that it’s going to take a major change to overthrow years of mediocrity. With leaders like Nelson prepared to take the individual initiative to spark that belief, they’re off to a good start.

“I think it starts with our leaders,” Nelson said. “Once we start believing in ourselves and get people to buy into the program, I think it’ll all follow through, because pretty much everybody here looks up to us. If we buy into what he’s saying, they’ll buy into what we’re saying.”