Mother forms organization to reach at-risk youth

Cathy Parker has seen first-hand how sports have impacted her family's life.

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Her husband, Carl, played receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. Their son, Kyle, will compete for the starting quarterback spot at Clemson University this fall and is a standout on the Tigers baseball team. Kyle's younger brother, Collin, graduated from Lakeside High School this year after helping lead the Panthers to the Class AAAA baseball quarterfinals.

And two more Parkers expect to be on Lakeside rosters in the fall.

Sports has been part of the structure of the Parkers' lives for years, and now they're using athletics to help bring stability to the lives of at-risk youth.

Cathy Parker recently founded Athletes to Champions, a nonprofit group aimed at promoting youth athletics in poor areas. The organization partnered with the nonprofit group Power Cross last week to hold a football camp in Statesville, N.C.

Carl and Kyle were there, along with several other college football players Kyle recruited to help out.

This was the second year Athletes to Champions participated in the camp.

Last year, the emphasis was baseball, and that was Kyle's first exposure to the children of Statesville, with whom he would form bonds, and play host to at Clemson sporting events.

The Parkers are new to the Augusta area. They completed their move to Columbia County from Jacksonville, Fla., earlier this year.

It was in Jacksonville where Cathy took on her first project, one that garnered national attention. After watching an ESPN special on the plight of a football program in Barrow, Alaska, Cathy decided to take action. The football team -- which was formed to help combat the area's high dropout rates, suicide rates and drug use among teens -- was playing on a field of dirt and gravel.

After watching the documentary, Cathy formed Project Alaska Turf and in about six months had raised the money needed to fly a blue turf field into Barrow in time for the 2007 season.

Cathy said the project encountered resistance. People told her the field was a waste of money.

"But that's what the kids wanted," Cathy said. "They wanted to play football. It just turned that community around."

The act was documented by news outlets throughout the country, including ESPN's Outside the Lines .

The coverage drew the attention of a North Carolina couple who had been working with a group of disadvantaged children through Power Cross, and the partnership for the camps was formed.

Cathy said 80 children were registered for last week's camp. The majority came from single-parent homes, she said.

Athletes to Champions was a spin-off of the success of the Alaska project. Cathy said she sees potential for the organization to reach area youth, especially in Richmond County.

"I'd like to get some exposure that we're here," Cathy said. "I've sent e-mails off to the mayor. I've done those kind of things to no avail yet. But I'm not giving up."