Playing soccer has been a gift. Being smart has been a choice. A movement for those who have chosen to be smart in their lives...

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Changing Cultures: Eugene's Journey

Eugene's life journey has taken him from the small US Virgin Islands in the middle of the Caribbean to the fast moving streets of New York and then across the country to the San Francisco Bay Area.  During this journey he endured his parents divorce, the death of his father and becoming a young, single father--all of which provided him with pivotal moments and turning points, but none of which stopped him from becoming the man he was determined to be.  Now, a proud and accomplished husband, father, coach and Chief Financial Officer for San Francisco's District Attorney's Office, Eugene reflects on his journey and shares with us what he believes makes someone a Smart Guy...

I grew up in St. Croix, born in a middle class family, the youngest of four children.  My mother was a college educated primary school teacher and my father was educated in the military and then rose through the ranks for the US Department of Customs.  When I was in the 5th grade my parents got divorced and I spent the rest of my childhood going back and forth between them in St. Croix and St. Thomas.  I am the product of Catholic education with the exception of the time spent in Florida as a child.  I was always pretty engaged in school as I was always in competition with my older sisters (they weren’t competing with me though) for who got the best grades.  Most of the teachers I encountered all knew my sisters and the high standards they set before me.  I took that as a challenge to do no less than they did. My two sisters were both successful in high school and went on to college. My brother ended up on a different path, he didn’t graduate from high school and ended up spending time in the criminal justice system.  

Coping with my parents divorce was the first significant obstacle I remember facing.  During this transition, I had to move to Florida for a while which was a totally different culture than I had ever experienced living in the islands.  It ended up being a good early learning experience for dealing with others and different cultures, one I've had to call on countless times in my journey.  The second life changing moment that stands out for me was losing my father at the age of 17.  He was diagnosed with cancer when I was in the 9th grade and he died right before my senior year of High School.  That loss forced me to become very independent and self reliant in an instant and I felt a major hole in my life as a boy without a father. 

I attended New York University for Undergrad and Graduate school.  For my undergraduate studies I attended Gallatin School of Individualized study where I was able to create my own major which was a combination of psychology and sociology with an emphasis on youth development.  At the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, I concentrated on public finance and non-profit management.  I attended NYU mainly because of the school’s reputation.   I found the school’s academic rigor to be pretty challenging and opened my views quite significantly.  

Part of my decision to attend college was to seek a totally different experience than what I was used to in the Virgin Islands.  Interestingly enough, my experiences in New York became more fulfilling as I became more involved in exploring my cultural background and experiencing West Indian/Caribbean life in New York.  While in college at NYU, I became a father at the age of 21.  So in addition to being forced to be independent and self reliant because of the loss of my father, I now had someone else depending on me for their survival.  Yet instead of giving up, falling down or dismissing my responsibilities, I became more driven and focused.  I managed to finish my BA and MPA by age 26, all while supporting myself and maintaining a significant role in my daughter’s life.   

Eugene and his daughter at her HS graduation
When my father passed away, there were two people who took a chance on me and it has paid dividends ever since.  My sister Monique knew that I had dabbled in photography as a youngster and advocated for me to become the staff photographer for the newspaper where she was the editor when I was 16.  A few months into working at that job I was offered another job to assist with running a new photo shop that had opened.  My sister Monique and Kim (the owner of the photo shop) both took a chance on me because of something they each saw in me.  My peers at this age were bagging groceries, working for some other government run employment program or selling drugs.  I had the opportunity to do something I loved that had meaning and purpose to me.  Those early opportunities showed me the value of work, what it meant to have a meaningful career, and most importantly what it meant for someone to believe in you and offer a helping hand.  As a result, I have pledged to always give back to the community to ensure that others who want to get ahead and who have the potential can realize their potential.

My role model and mentors are all members of my family.  I never needed to look beyond them for inspiration or examples of success.  My sisters, aunts, mother and father were all giants to me in whatever they chose to do.  They all rose to positions of prominence in their respective fields while raising families and remaining grounded. 

When I left St. Croix for college, I wanted to be a photographer.  I still love photography but I chose a different career path.  Currently, I am the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.  In this role I am responsible for the overall management and operations for an office of 250 plus personnel.  This involves developing, planning, monitoring and reconciling a budget of $41 million dollars annually.  It also involves working with the District Attorney in implementing policies that affect the office’s ability to seek justice on behalf of the citizens of the county of San Francisco.  I have also been the Chief Financial Officer for the San Francisco Sheriff Department and the Mayor's Office.  In my job I have to be very analytical on a day to day basis.  In order to be successful, I have to listen, analyze and develop a course of action to resolve the issues. 


for more information about the Rebels program,
 go to www.mrchoops.org
 One of the ways I give back and stay involved in my community is through coaching.  I’ve coached girls AAU basketball for the last 11 years in the Bay Area, working with the Rebels program and helping these young athletes reaching statewide prominence and national recognition. We like to call ourselves a “mom and pop shop” and are proud of the family atmosphere that we've created and maintained while simultaneously creating a culture of excellence and success. 

To me, a 'smart guy' is someone who can overcome his/her circumstances to take the necessary steps to become the person that they want to become.  A smart guy isn’t necessarily someone with all the money or prestige; a 'smart guy' is someone who is able to achieve success as they define it while maintaining their character and integrity.  I think what makes me a 'smart guy' is the fact that I’m from a little island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea and have successfully navigated the City of New York, then moved across the country to San Francisco and now have worked for the first African American Mayor in the City of San Francisco, the first woman, African/Indian American District Attorney, and the first Cuban American District Attorney in California-- all while being a good father and husband and continuing to be connected to the community and serve on a daily basis. 

My advice to young people is to always challenge themselves.  Put themselves in situations where they aren’t always comfortable.  Being comfortable often leads to complacency and being stagnant.  In addition, people put limitations on themselves and say they can’t do this or that, or proclaim something to not be their thing, without even attempting to do it.  If they keep the mindset of always challenging themselves they will find themselves among others who are looking for the same things out of life.  

A 'Smart Guy' from the Islands,
Eugene

*Author's Note: last year, at the age of 43, Eugene's brother graduated from college.  Getting up after you fall down, a 'smart guy' trait to be proud of...

Being Different--Josh Johnson's Smart Guy Story

Growing up in West Oakland, CA presents a lot of opportunity for young African American males. Opportunities such as--attachment to gangs and the violence associated with it, pimping and pandering, involvement with drugs, or meeting and building a relationship with law officials.  We are not talking about a buddy/buddy type relationship; it is more like the Duke Boys vs. Boss Hog and Roscoe P. Coltrane relationship.  So what can you do if you don’t want to continue in this cycle? Well for Smart Guy Josh Johnson, he made the conscious decision to devote and focuse his time and energy to other avenues. He did not let the pressure from his peers or his environments deter what he wanted to do with his life. He acted on some of the less known opportunities that Oakland had to offer but rarely gets recognition for providing. Josh  concentrated heavily on his family, school and sports to escape the negativity that surrounded him. As Johnson grew up he knew that he did not want to be like everyone else, he wanted to be different. He not only wanted to be a success on the football field, basketball court or track but he also wanted to succeed in the classroom and in life.

“I have always wanted to be a well-rounded person, to be a successful athlete as well as a successful student; I wanted to create different avenues for myself.” Johnson said. “As I was growing up, I would rather go to practice instead of hanging out. I would rather do my school work or stay in the house. Most of that stuff that was out there in the streets really didn’t mean anything. It was just something there for everybody to do but I didn’t want to do that.”  Johnson admits that growing up in the inner city can present a lot of barriers and challenges, simply because in that environment bad things that happens on a somewhat daily basis. But Josh also recognized that there were positive things that can come out of those situations as well.  “You can learn a lot of good values,” Johnson continued. “When you come from humble beginning you have many struggles. But when you struggle you get to find out more about the character of the people around you and also about yourself. You develop the will to fight, a trait that will carry you through a lot of other challenges on the road to becoming an adult.”

Many people have struggled with separation, the ability to be able to separate themselves from what they are used to and friends that they are used to being with who may not be on a positive path. Those things can truly affect your life in a negative way. Josh advises youth that may be struggling with this separation to have courage. If the people who you call your friends see the change in you then, it could help them to make a change in themselves as well. Don’t be afraid to be a leader; don’t be afraid to be the first one to break out of the norm. “One of the biggest challenges that you will face is being able to separate yourself from the negative things.” Johnson said. “The negative things are out there and they are easy to do. That is why everyone is doing it, because it is so easy. Not everyone wants to get involved with the harder things, due to all the work that has to be put in to becoming successful at it. That is just the world that we live in. I encourage young people to stay on the right path, that Smart Guy path. It is the right thing to do although it may be more difficult than the negative things. Look beyond the little things that you can get with the fast money because that will not last long. From my experiences the harder that I worked at something, the more I was able to benefit from it. You have to create that mentality for yourself because that winning/ hard working mentality will get you a long way.”



Josh’s mom Rosemary was a very big influence on his life and the decisions that he made. Rosemary was a single mother with four children who worked hard to provide for her family and limit some of the struggles that families had. “My mother did a great job with us,” Johnson said. “As a single parent with four children, she did everything she could to make sure we didn’t have to struggle. That let me know that there was no excuse for me not to do the right thing.”As for the much needed male guidance that young males search for, Johnson found it in his uncles and coaches he had while playing youth and in high school sports.  “My uncles were like a father figures for me,” Johnson recalled. “He showed me a lot of things from a male’s perspective. My high school coach did the same for me in the athletic realm. He did a lot for my teammates and I. I was able to learn a lot from him.”

Johnson views himself as a Smart Guy for overcoming the temptations that the streets of Oakland presented him. Josh is a graduate of Oakland Tech High School where he earned first team All City honors at quarterback and led his team to the Oakland Athletic League Championship. He is two classes away from graduating from the University of San Diego with a Bachelor degree in Mass Communications and where he was a four time All Conference (Pioneer Football League) (2004-07), twice earning PFL Offensive Player of the Year (2005-06), he was a four time I-AA All American (2004-07), and was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award-given to the best player in division I-AA football (2007). Johnson is currently the backup quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a co-founder of Fam 1st Family Foundation with cousin Marshawn Lynch.
    
Johnson and Lynch created this 501c3 non-profit foundation to give back to the young kids of Oakland. For the past four years the guys has hosted a free football camp for kids ages 6-18, at their alma mater Oakland Tech. To expand the Fam 1st Family Foundation they incorporated the first annual Family 1st bowling night last fall and have a family oriented weekend planned from July 8-9, 2011. The festivities will start Friday night July 8 from 6-9:00pm with the 1st Family bowling and continue Saturday, July 9, with their annual football camp. The foundation also sponsors turkey drives during Thanksgiving and toy drives during Christmas. One of the major goals for the foundation is developing a youth center for the kids, a project that is in the planning stages now.

“We are excited to get this underway for the youths of Oakland.” Johnson said. “We are all about helping the inner city kids and showing them that there is more to life than what they see in the streets that they are growing up in. The opportunity is there for everybody, you just have to work hard for it, but trust me you will appreciate all that hard work you put into yourself and your future when you get older, because you will learn so much about the world."


A Family Smart Guy,
Josh


To find out more about Josh Johnson go to http://www.joshjohnson11.com/ . For more information regarding the  Fam 1st Family Foundations contact Joanna Lopez at jvlopez13@gmail.com.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Entering the Hall of Fame--Eddie Pope's Story

Eddie has traveled an exciting journey with soccer that has taken him across the world.  Hear his incredible story and what makes him a ‘Smart Guy’…

When I was six I really wanted to play football. But they didn’t have football for my age group and I wanted to do something, so I ended up trying soccer and didn’t return to football until high school. No one played soccer in my community in North Carolina.  At the time, I lived in all black neighborhood and none of the other kids played soccer—it was just basketball and baseball. They didn’t even offer soccer in my community and I had to sign up for soccer in another neighborhood.  I was usually the only black kid playing soccer as I went through youth soccer.  I learned to live in two different worlds, the soccer world and my neighborhood/home world.  In addition to the soccer teams I played on, I continued to played basketball and baseball with my peers in the neighborhood. In high school I played baseball, soccer and football.  I was All-State in all three sports and didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, I loved all three.  Baseball ended up being the first sport I dropped.  After high school graduation, I went to UNC Chapel Hill on a football scholarship as a kicker.  Once I was there I walked on to the soccer team and ended up with a shared scholarship, which freed up scholarship money for both programs. 
I did well academically.  My parents weren’t athletes and my mother was a teacher, so their focus was always academics.  My mother never played around when it came to grades and my responsibilities as a student.    When I was applying to colleges, recruiters complimented me on my grades, noting that my academic success allowed me a wide choice of schools and increased my attractiveness for colleges and their athletic programs.  I was an Academic All-American several times in college, and even at that level, I knew the expectations of me academically and strived to be a good student as well as a good athlete.
The deciding moment in my sports career was not what I expected. Both teams wanted me to specialized and focus on one sport, but I really enjoyed both and was content to work hard and play football and soccer throughout college.  My freshman year I was warming up for annual Blue/White game in football and looked down and noticed my leg was five times its normal size. Earlier that week in soccer practice I made a tackle and cut my leg.  It turned out that cut got infected and I spent the next two weeks in the hospital and narrowly avoided a leg amputation.  Afterwards, I had to redshirt football that year but recovered in time to play soccer freshman year.  That summer it was time to try out for the Olympic soccer team. The football coach said I couldn’t miss summer workouts if I wanted to be the kicker in the fall, which I would have to do to try out for Olympic soccer team.  After talking to family and friends, I chose the once in a lifetime opportunity of trying out for the Olympic soccer team. My football coach told me it was a big mistake, that if I stuck with football I could be playing in NFL in a few short years. I made that 1996 Olympic soccer team where we went 1-1-1.
I think one of the biggest challenges for any young person is what your peers are doing.  Back then there weren’t a ton of training opportunities for aspiring athletes like there are today, so a lot of your training and conditioning was stuff you had to do on your own. My buddies in my neighborhood always wanted to hang out.  But my mother constantly reinforced for me that I had to be better than everyone else if I wanted to make these travel/elite teams, so good that the teams would have no choice but to pick me.  So I learned to find the balance.  If my buddies wanted to shoot hoops, I told them I would play with them if they played soccer or did conditioning with me. 
When I was growing up, there was no soccer on TV to look at or pattern yourself after, so I didn’t have athlete role models. My parents were my role models. They were diligent and strict and they helped keep me in line.  And even now my role models are still my parents.  They were always at my games and my practices. My mother was the first one to school with any challenges, advocating for me and promoting success. 
My most important professional accomplishment has to be playing in the World Cups because that is the highest level of achievement for our sport.  As a competitive athlete, the goal is always to reach the top level and challenge yourself to perform well with the best of the best.
My most important personal accomplishment is graduating from college. It is important for me to have that to show my kids, proof that I practiced what I preach to them about academics.  I wanted to be able to say that education was important and back it up.  I want them to learn from my success and not from my mistakes.
The Eddie Pope Foundation teaches the virtues of spirit, community, and education to youths in underserved areas through the sport of soccer.  I have always believed that soccer has power. The biggest thing to me is that soccer gives kids the ability to travel the world and experience different cultures and places.  The first time I left the country was for soccer when I was fifteen years old. I went to Scandinavia, and I’m pretty sure I would not have been able to do that without soccer. For those who play soccer competitively, by the time you are done with college, you are so well-traveled. That’s irreplaceable. The cultural diversity, the people you meet along the way, trips to Africa, Asia, Europe, etc. You can’t find that at such a young age in any other sport. 
I started the Eddie Pope Foundation because I wanted to be able to give other young people soccer.  I was fortunate to find soccer, even in the random fashion in which I did.  .  I thought everyone should have the opportunity to play soccer for the other tools it brought to the table--education, health, afterschool activities, and a safe place.  It was not cool to be smart in the black community when I was going through school, it was okay to fail academically. But as a soccer player and within my soccer community, I was complimented and encouraged to be smart.  In the neighborhood, people often made fun of my sister because she was smart, they called her dictionary as an insult.
Additionally, I thought everyone should have access to soccer, not just one community.  Although worldwide soccer is the sport of the poor, in America, soccer is a wealthy sport.  In America, we organize soccer, and the minute something gets organized, it gets expensive.  Fifteen hundred dollars a season for travel/comp soccer, plus your equipment and tournament fees, thousands of dollars on a single soccer season.  Worldwide people play on the streets and get discovered and become professional soccer players, not here. I wanted kids here to have access to the sport so that they are involved in something and not hanging out in the street doing nothing.  To stay in the Eddie Pope Foundation program participants have to do well in school.  We are proud to say that we haven’t had one teen pregnancy amongst our participants in 12 years. Program participants are busy in those critical after-school hours, have good self-esteem, and are focused on specific goals. Kids are given prizes for academic accomplishments, not athletic accomplishments. Some kids in the program are becoming bilingual through their multicultural friendships developed with program peers from different communities, peers they may have never encountered otherwise. 
For me, being a ‘Smart Guy’ was about choices I made at a young age.  The decisions I made as a young man were smart decisions, those decisions put me in the positions I am today.  I spend thousands of hours in my backyard kicking a soccer ball to develop my skills.  Kids think they don’t have to make smart decisions until they are older but that’s not true.  If you are not making smart decisions, you could very well be making bad/detrimental decisions. I made smart decisions when I was younger. The more we can help kids learn to make good decisions at young ages, the better.
I am excited about my Hall of Fame nomination.  There weren’t a lot of African Americans in the Hall of Fame, there will be three of us now.  Growing up, soccer was considered a ‘white boy’ sport. People were constantly asking me “why are you playing soccer?” There was constant judgment and criticism of me and my role as a soccer player.  I am proud that I can be a role model for kids growing up who look like me and are told they can’t do something.  When I introduce soccer to the young men in my program I am prepared for this pre-judgment.  I have posters and pictures and tell them about the history of soccer in Africa.  They are so proud after they learn about their history in soccer.  They have confidence in knowing they are not the only one.  Soon kids in inner city communities will see us being inducted and think that they can do it too--if you see it, then you can believe it.  Being able to provide that, to open that door, is so important to me and makes me proud.
A Hall of Fame 'Smart Guy',
Eddie

Eddie Pope, a three time World Cup player, three time MLS Champion, with ten MLS All-Star team selections, and a role on the US Olympic soccer player was recently named to the USA Soccer Hall of Fame.  Eddie has had an amazing soccer career as a player and continues to be involved with soccer in his position as MLS Director of Player relations and as the leader of the Eddie Pope Foundation. 

The Power of Service Learning-- Tony Sanneh's Story

 
Since 2003 Tony Sanneh has been running the Tony Sanneh Foundation whose mission is to assemble a supportive network within the community that provides positive environments for urban youth to become positive and productive adults.  When we caught up with Tony, he had just finished the foundation’s Gala 4 Goals event with Bob Bradley, coach of the US Men’s National Team as their special guest and honoree.  Tony and his staff and volunteers, without the support of any large corporate sponsors, pulled off an incredible event that included over 600 guests, and raised over $50,000 to support young people in the Twin Cities community.  Tony was excited about the success of the event, but is not resting on his laurels.  “I grew up with my communities constantly helping and supporting me. There was never any doubt in my mind that I would come back to Minnesota and offer that same support to others.”

When asked about his records and accomplishments in soccer, Tony is very modest. Tony mentions that he thinks he held some records for goals and assists in high school and/or college, but that he was sure that they had all been broken by now. They have not—those records are still standing.  Tony was a two time all-state high school soccer player. Tony was a collegiate All-American at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he was, and continues to be, the school’s all-time leading scorer with 53 goals and 32 assists, a record that has held firm since 1994.  Tony played 43 times for the US National Team and was one of three players to play every minute of all five games for the US in the 2002 World Cup.

But perhaps Tony’s modesty comes from the fact that he firmly believes that his success is not his alone.  “I grew up with my communities help and support.  My dad is from West Africa and I went there for a visit when I was six years old and learned and fell in love with the game of soccer.  Back in Minnesota, I received support in many different forms, in order to grow and learn as a soccer player, a student, a leader.”  Despite the support, Tony faced many challenges on his way to success.  “It was tough to get national visibility.  Soccer has not historically been an inner city sport and there certainly haven’t historically been a lot of soccer players from Minnesota. Yet the amazing support from the community made it possible for my teammates and I to learn and grow to such a level that we won the US Soccer U19 Championship in 1990, and almost a dozen of us from my high school went on to become professional soccer players. And I’m even more proud to say that we all learned from our experience and give back to our communities in order to help the next generation of young people growing up.”






After going to Wisconsin-Milwaukee on a soccer scholarship with his best friend, Tony joined the MLS DC United in 1996 where he helped his team win two consecutive championships.  Tony played professionally from 1994-2009 but is thrilled to be back in Minnesota providing young people with service learning youth development opportunities.  His foundation offers soccer camps for children ages 6-12 and over 30 free camps around the Twin Cities that help navigate the college scholarship process for promising student athletes.  The Tony Sanneh Foundation surrounds the young people with positive role models and coaches to help them grow.  We asked Tony what he thinks makes someone a ‘Smart Guy’ or a ‘Smart Girl’?  “Definitely leadership.  Knowing what your values are and doing things that align with those values.  Doing the right thing when it’s not the easiest thing to do,” said Tony.  “I think I have always worked hard to gain people’s respect.  I went one step at a time at each level.  I did what I needed to do to get on the team, and then focused on what I needed to do to stay on the team.  Smart Guys’ show people that they are competent and a team player and people will want you on their team.”


When asked who he looked up to while growing up, Tony cited a variety of individuals. “What all the individuals, athletes, groups that I looked up to had in common was excellence.  I was always impressed and engaged by people who had ‘something special’, people who exemplified excellence.”  Now, Tony says that the Twin Cities communities are who inspires him.  The diversity of the Twin Cities, the ongoing philanthropic spirit, gives him inspiration for his work at the Tony Sanneh Foundation.   






In addition to his work in Minnesota, Tony is often called upon to advocate for social equality and youth development internationally and he gladly lends a hand to his international family.  Tony believes in the power of service and will continue to be a powerful catalyst for change and growth for the youth in his communities, both locally and internationally—what a smart guy. 






For more information about the Tony Sanneh Foundation and how you can participate or help, go to http://www.thesannehfoundation.org/  

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Wrestling Adversity: Smart Guy Anthony Robles


photo by Wesley Herrera

He remains in the foyer of the gym after his teammates have entered the auditorium. For a brief moment he can’t see anything, all has gone black, the noises has vanished, and the energy of the building seems to be non-existent. There is nothing for Anthony but complete focus on the task at hand and life reflection on how he has arrived at the point to where is now.  He opens his eyes, knowing that it is time for him to enter the auditorium in his very un-traditional style--on crutches. Anthony Robles, 22, the Captain of Arizona State University Wrestling team, who was born without a right hip bone and with only his left leg, clutches his crutches tightly and swiftly makes his way to the mat to where he is set to do battle.

Being born with only one leg could have provided Robles an excuse to ask for and receive pity or special treatment from others. But Robles has never wanted to be treated any differently than anyone else. "I really don't see missing my leg as a handicap,” Robles said. “My parents raised me to be strong and they didn't give me any special treatment. Consequently, I have always believed that I can do anything I set my mind to.”  
That mindset has propelled Robles to accomplish great feats in his young life. He picked up wrestling as a high school freshman after being the practice dummy for his cousins in the eighth grade. He fell in love with the sport and knew at that point, that was what he wanted to do. “When I first started, before my freshman year in high school, I had no interest in wrestling,” Robles explained. “But once I started that first year, I just fell in love with the sport. I knew that I wanted to continue with it and be the best at it that I can possibly be. It went from me trying to be a city champion, to a state champion, and then when I got to college I wanted to be a national champion.”
  
Wrestling is a sport that doesn’t come easy to anyone it takes physical and mental strength to be successful. There are obstacles and a barrier for all wrestlers to accomplish success, and there were even more obstacles for Robles whom wanted to succeed in this individual physical competition while only having one leg. “I think that I went through a lot. When I started doing wrestling I wasn’t very good. I was last in my city. There were not a lot of people behind me. They just didn’t believe that I could be able to achieve successes in wrestling which is what I wanted. I felt like I had to prove a lot of people wrong.”

The physical challenges of wrestling were not the only obstacle that Robles had to overcome. His mother gave birth to him at the age of 16 years old and raised him in a very tough neighborhood.  “I grew up in a neighborhood that wasn’t the best,” Robles said. “There was a lot of trouble going on.  My friends that I grew up with down the street are in jail right now.”To get through those socioeconomic challenges, Robles channeled his attentions and energy on the things that was going to get him to his ultimate goal of becoming the best wrestler that he could be.  “In order to do that I had to look past my obstacles and not focus on them,” Robles continued. “I just had to focus on my goal, which was to be a National Champion Wrestler. Really, wrestling is what carried me through. I put so much focus on my wrestling that it was pretty much all I did all summer. I was always in the wrestling room; always training, always trying to get better and better and it eventually paid off. Wrestling has been my life for 9 years now, it has been my focus and I am just very grateful and happy that all the hard work paid off and that I finally made it to the top.”

photo by Jason Wise
Anthony believes that what makes him a 'Smart Guy' and what he shares with other 'Smart Guys' is the ability to thrive in the face of adversity. Whatever life throws at you, take it in stride. He advises everyone that if you have a goal in mind stick with it and stay positive about it. Tell yourself that you can do it and you will be able to accomplish it. No matter what your circumstances are you can always have an opportunity to rise above it.

“Everyone has obstacles in their life, we all have the power in us to be unstoppable and really rise above those obstacles and accomplish what we want to in life,” said Robles. “It is just about focusing on the right things. You need to focus on that goal and not hold on to the obstacles that are stacked against you. No matter who you are or what you do, there is always going to be something or someone that/who will try to hold you back.  It is all about focusing beyond that and not letting anything stop you. That is what makes you a Smart Guy.”

Anthony credits his family and coaches that he had along the way as strength or motivational factors in helping him achieve the successes that he has become to witness. “I did have a lot of great people around me,” Robles recalled. “My high school coaches (Bobby Williams and David D’Daminico) at Mesa High School in Arizona, my college coaches (Shawn Charles), my family (mom Judy and dad Ron, brothers Nicolas, Joshua, Andrew and my sister Ronnie) has always been there behind me, supporting me, always putting the belief in my head that I can do anything that I put my mind to. Without those people, there is no way that I could have accomplished what I did.”

Anthony recalled hearing the following statements and all of that provided him with the motivation to help him answer prove everyone wrong.  “Anthony you can’t do this, you are not physically capable of doing that, you have to concentrate on such and such, in order to be successful and don’t even try to participate in sports especially a sport physical as wrestling.” In a short answer to all his naysayers, Smart Guy Anthony Robles simply says “Watch me.”

The nation did watch as he became the 2011 Wrestling NCAA National Champion in the 125 pound weight class. He shocked nearly everyone in the nation when his arms were raised in victory in that championship match. “I definitely was not surprised when Anthony won the National Championship because we trained him to do that,” Arizona State University Head Wrestling Coach Shawn Charles said. “Myself and the coaching staff at Arizona State trained him to be the best he could possibly be. I knew that he was capable of being a National Champion when he walked into that door.”

photo by Wesley Herrera
Robles is a leader on his team and spread an infectious work ethic to the younger guys on the team. “He was a great leader. He has been a Captain every year since I have been here.” Charles explained. “Anthony definitely leads by example, he is a soft spoken guy, he is not the kind of guy that is going to yell at you or call you out. Anthony never tries to get out of any workouts, he works his butt off and never makes excuses for what he is doing or the situation that he is in. He is definitely a guy that when you look over at him and see how hard he is working and how determined he is to be successful, he definitely motivates you to do the best you possibly can.”
 
Robles after accomplishing his goal he set as a freshman in college of winning a national championship has now turned his focus into another direction. He knows that his story is unique and plans to become a professional motivational speaker. “I just put up my own website, choose2beunstoppable.com, I have my blog up where I am updating everyone on how things are going. Hopefully I will expand it from there. Some amazing doors have been opening since the National Championships, I have had a lot of interview requests, and some companies are talking about making a movie and book deal with me. It has also opened up a lot of doors for me to go and speak at different places. I am very grateful for the attention and I am just trying to enjoy it right now.”               

A Warrior Smart Guy,
Anthony
 
photo by Wesley Herrera

You can follow Anthony on twitter at @ARobles125. Let him know that you read his story on 'Smart Guy'!