
DATE: Thursday, September 11, 1997          TAG: 9709100217

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  159 lines

MISSION: SAVING KIDS JOE AUSTIN SEES SPORTS AS A ``VEHICLE'' TO HELP YOUNGSTERS DISCOVER A PATHWAY TO A QUALITY LIFE.

THEY CALL HIM ``Boss.''

The mother who traded in her living room furniture for exercise equipment so her son, a promising high school athlete, could train at home. The young woman who lost her job and couldn't find another. The gang of teen-aged boys, playing a pick-up basketball game one hot summer afternoon. And the young man with a lethargic smile and half-closed eyelids who slowly saunters by.

To each, Columbus ``Joe'' Austin throws his hands up in greeting.

``Hey, you found a job yet?'' he booms at one. ``How's that boy of yours?'' he inquires of the mother.

``You've grown a foot since last season,'' he kids one of the teens. ``Have you been eating everything you see?''

Standing alongside the athletic field at Tidewater Park Elementary School one recent afternoon, this Berkley retiree knows practically everyone who walks by. He knows their families, their problems, their ailments, their aspirations.

And they know him as someone who has shown he cares.

For 25 years, Austin, a former Norfolk recreation supervisor, has worked tirelessly to make sure that youth in Norfolk's inner-city housing neighborhoods get the same opportunities to play sports as kids in more affluent areas.

He has raised funds for equipment and uniforms, organized an athletic league, secured volunteer coaches to serve as mentors, and cajoled city officials into providing adequate facilities.

But Austin's ``mission'' extends far beyond the ballfield. A devout Christian and church elder, he sees sports as just a ``vehicle,'' a way to help kids escape the violence, drugs and gangs they're confronted with daily and a discover a pathway to a quality life.

In a community full of ``quandary and confusion,'' the 72-year-old Austin gets intimately involved with these kids and their families.

``He's a real role model to these kids,'' noted Peter O'Halloran, a parks official. ``He's so selfless in his dedication and he really wants to see these kids succeed and not be caught up in crime and drugs.''

O'Halloran said he was ``amazed and overwhelmed'' not long ago when he saw Austin rally about 100 kids together one afternoon to remove litter on a city ballfield before they started playing football.

``He could have just said, `That's the city's job; we don't have to do that,' '' O'Halloran recalled. ``But he didn't. He had the kids do it. That was so appropriate, because the kids probably had something to do with putting that litter there. It really says something about the kind of person he is that he would require the kids to take care of their park.''

``This is a ministry to me,'' admitted Austin, a salt-and-pepper haired Berkley native and grandfather of four. ``You got kids out here who have got no fathers in the home. I know what it is to grow up without a father around. My mother did it all on her own . . . and it's tough. These kids need caring, positive, male role models around to help train them for life.

``Sure, some of them fall through the cracks, but even when they get in difficulties they know I love them. They know I'm not just their coach; I'm their friend,'' he said. ``I believe we're responsible for doing what we can to help each other.

``I think Christianity has to be lived. Just going to church on Sunday is not enough. Being a Christian is manifested through how you live your life. If football is the vehicle, so be it. If tiddlywinks works, let's play tiddlywinks. Whatever works.''

For this former high school and college football player, playing sports is what works. He admits it helped save him. Growing up as the eldest in a family of seven, Austin turned to athletics, his faith and family responsibility to keep him on the straight and narrow.

His hardworking mother, Sally, one of the women who helped carve the Norfolk Botanical Garden out of a woodlands as part of a federal work project during the Depression, was his ``inspiration.'' A former school teacher and dietitian, she was a girls' basketball coach who encouraged her children to rely on the Lord and athletics to succeed.

Joe Austin took her advice to heart. After playing football in high school and college, he took a job with the city's parks and recreation department, married and began raising a family. During the days of racial segregation, he was the one from the city who organized athletics for the black youth. And he continued to watch over those kids after integration to insure they didn't miss out on promised opportunities.

But in 1972, after watching kids signing up for a city-sponsored football league one Saturday morning at Lakewood Park, he realized he needed to do more. The kids from ``the parks'' stood out.

``I saw all these kids lined up out there who didn't have any uniforms or equipment, but who really wanted to play,'' Austin recalled. ``But they couldn't compete because they didn't have any shoulder pads or helmets. Everyone said, `They're from the park.' They were stigmatized. I said, `I got to do something about this.' ''

And he did. He contacted prominent African-American businesses and organizations - like Eureka Lodge and Riddick's Funeral Home - asking for sponsors and donations. Slowly, he scrounged together enough money to outfit a team with kids from Tidewater Park, Young Terrace and Calvert Square. He asked a friend to help him coach. They called themselves ``The Eagles'' and the Downtown Community Athletic Association was formed.

``We chose that name because of the nobility of the bird,'' Austin explained. ``The eagle is strong and noble; he's no scavenger. He has high ideals. Having the eagle as our name has made a difference in the way these kids think about themselves.''

Soon the word got out that a ``new gang'' had been formed. Kids from the projects started flocking to Austin's practice session. Eventually, the league expanded to dozens of teams, drawing in almost 400 kids, ages 7 to 17, to play football, baseball, basketball and softball - and some to be cheerleaders.

Today, Austin runs his operation from a 14-by-28-foot shelter built by Norfolk Technical Vocational School students, called ``The Eagle's Nest,'' which is nestled between Tidewater Park Elementary School and a ballfield.

The league's motto is ``Join our gang; not their's.'' Their creed: ``Training youth how to live tomorrow as they learn how to play today.''

``He gives us something to do rather than run the streets,'' admitted 13-year-old James Jones, a Tidewater Park resident. ``He's a good coach. He helps you make sure you get things right.''

But Austin does not harbor any illusions that he's molding future Michael Jordans or Reggie Whites. To this one-time star athlete, success is measured by watching kids feel good about themselves, staying in school and building a happy, productive life.

``We want to give every kid a chance to play,'' he explains. ``But we have an unwritten rule. It's not about sports. It's about life. We're training these kids for life. Just because they were born in the projects doesn't mean they can't do anything they want.''

To help him, Austin has solicited a corps of like-minded volunteers, men who build self-esteem, teach character and, by example, show an alternative to life on the street. Most of his volunteer coaches of today are former players who have returned to the 'hood to make a difference after forging successful lives. He proudly points out that many are successful accountants, lawyers, health care workers and sports administrators.

``Mr. Austin gave me an opportunity to keep my life together, and so by working with him now, maybe I can help keep somebody else's life together too,'' noted Randolph Fisher, a 50-year-old Young Terrace native who serves as vice president of the league.

``He's been a real father figure to a lot of kids growing up in the inner city,'' the hospital cook/baker noted. ``So many kids fall victim to the street, and they need a role model like him to show them the way out. He has been there for a lot of kids.''

After 25 years of leading the charge, however, Austin has begun to look to the future. He wants to ensure that his legacy lives on, even when he is unable to stand at the forefront.

``I've got someone who says he's going to take over,'' the elder athlete said. ``But I don't know. . . . they'll probably have to roll me out of here. I just love working with these kids. Lord, I think of how many kids I've touched out here on this ballfield . . . It really makes me feel good. It shows that when you follow the Lord's steps, you find the way.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PHILIP HOLMAN

On his first day of playing football with the Downtown Community

Athletic Association, 9-year-old Remario Arrington gets some

encouragement from Joe Austin as Remario's mother, Denina, watches.

``It's not about football,'' Austin says. ``It's about life.''

The Downtown Community Athletic Association provides evening

activities for more than 200 youngsters, ages 5 to 15, on the

playing fields at Tidewater Park Elementary School.

Joe Austin, left, chats with William ``Libby'' Livingston, head

coach of the Bantam team. Livingston has been working with Austin

for 21 years.

Norfolk firefighter Joe Scott, who has returned as assistant coach

of the Bantam team, gives some tips to Demetrius Burt, left, and Ray