- November 1, 2024
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Coaches Cedric Canley, Tony Cullings, Chris Brower, Covance Cabell and Mike Steward. Photo courtesy of Kim Steward
Michael Steward instructs kids during basketball drills. Photo courtesy of Kim Steward
The Bridge Building Program practices on Saturdays at Matanzas High School. Photo courtesy of Kim Steward
What comes next? And, are you ready for it?
These are common questions for athletes to get them thinking about life after sports, and in my experience as an athlete and as a sports writer, I’ve come across many athletes who didn’t know answers to either question.
Michael Steward has spent nearly a decade trying to help the area’s youth answer those questions.
Steward, who is the strength and conditioning coordinator at Matanzas High School, founded the Bridge Building Program, which is a nonprofit organization that provides academic and athletic assistance for students in grades 1-12.
The program has basketball skills training on Saturdays at MHS. Beginners and intermediate players practice from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., and advanced athletics practice from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. It’s $15 per athlete.
The program is about much more than sports, however.
“When you catch your last touchdown, will you have everything you need to be successful in life?” Steward said. “There’s another chapter to everyone’s life. I’m not a dream-wrecker, but I have to have the reality put in, too.”
Steward initially started the program in 2009. They were based out of the Salvation Army in Daytona Beach until the program was dissolved after a year. But following a discussion with his wife, Steward dipped into his 401k to resurrect the program in 2014. They started with 14 kids. Now, there’s about 200 going in and out of the program.
The student-athletes (emphasis on the student part) have to be well-rounded.
For many of the kids, discipline and responsibility have become an integral part of their lives.
“Now I don’t have to tell my guys to go get 500 shots up. They just do it. It becomes a culture. It becomes infectious. And that’s what you want,” he said. “I’m just trying to get them to understand what the next stage in life looks life.”
