Former pro football player a big help for Merced Boys & Girls Club

Tony Slaton is a big man.

At 6-foot-4, he towered over many of the athletes he once competed against on the football field as a pro football player on the Los Angeles Rams in the late 1980s.

But for the past five years, this Merced native, who was once paid to punish other football players, has been overseeing an organization that does just the opposite.

As executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Merced County, Slaton still towers over most of the youth who are members of the organization. But this mountain-sized man's work now revolves around making sure the kids at the club have a safe, supportive sanctuary.

"I consider myself a helper, a people developer," said Slaton.

His approach to running the Boys & Girls Club is, to some degree, modeled on his success as a ball player. While he worked hard to succeed, it was the support from family, coaches and his community that made it possible.

That's what he wants to replicate at the Boys & Girls Club. Through a staff that knows the kids to parental participation and academics, Slaton hopes the club can be a fulcrum for community involvement in the raising of children.

The organization does more than give kids a place to come during the summer and after school, said Slaton. "We are here to produce a product. That product is productive, caring, responsible citizens," he said.

For the roughly 160 kids who come to the Boys & Girls Club on a daily basis through the summer, it's one of the few places in Merced they can go when school gets out.

Open year round, and in the summers all day long, the organization's 1,100 members pay just $10 for access to the computer lab, gymnasium and other facilities inside the McComb Youth Center.

In the past five years, says Cheryl Reid, the special projects director, the organization has really blossomed. "I think the staff and the club has come together as a whole in a united front for the kids," she said. "We have always been here, the kids have always been here, but I think we're being noticed more for what we do and the good things that we are doing for the kids."

For Slaton that means more than just fun and games.

One example of their academic endeavors was a summer math academy, which came about in collaboration with the University of California. The program helped boost the math test scores of 40 out 62 eighth-graders moving on to high school.

Now, with accredited teachers, the organization has launched its own summer academy that helps kids falling behind and pushes those who are more advanced, said Slaton.

A combination of academics, moral support and a safe fun place to hang out has helped some kids who would have otherwise fallen behind, said Slaton.

In the case of one 10th grader who could not read when Slaton came to the organization, the Boys & Girls Club has made all the difference. It was not only the support and direction that came from the club, said Slaton, but also help with his academics that made it possible for him to carry on. Now he is playing basketball for Merced College, said Slaton. "That's a kid beating the odds."

Slaton said the Boys & Girls Club is the kind of organization that not only gives most kids a safe constructive place to hang out, but it also prevents kids from going the wrong direction in life. That fact, said Slaton, is too often missed by those thinking about such issues. "It's hard to quantify or put value on kids who didn't get into trouble," he said. But keeping kids off the streets, said Slaton, is more than just giving them a place to go after school, it's about building relationships.

And that is what he tries to do.

But another concern takes up most of his time. When he's not thinking about the kids and what they need on a day-to-day basis, Slaton it thinking about money. Every year the nonprofit must raise a daunting $500,000. "It's a challenge," he said.

Reporter Jonah Owen Lamb can be reached at (209) 385-2484 or jlamb@mercedsun-star.com.

This story was originally published July 12, 2010 at 5:41 AM with the headline "Former pro football player a big help for Merced Boys & Girls Club."