Mentoring Matters: The Dwyane Wade You Never Knew About
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MIRAMAR (CBSMiami) – The coach of the girls basketball team at Miramar High school barks orders fast and furious. "Run the fast break. Concentrate on your lay up."
Dwyane Wade Sr. has been doing this for years, back to when his now-famous son of the same name was taking the instruction.
The Dwyane Wade most people know is an NBA superstar, while his dad, Dwyane Wade Sr., is doing what he loves most: mentoring kids through sports.
"I think it's cool that he still does this, even at a point in his life when he could just kick back and relax. That's not who he is," said the Heat basketball star. "He wants his voice to be heard."
Besides volunteering to coach kids in high school and at various camps, the elder Wade has started the Pro Pops Foundation.
It's mission is get fathers more involved in the lives of their kids.
To Wade Sr., the message hits home.
"My dad wasn't in the home when I grew up, and it weighed heavy on my heart," he said.
Even though he and his famous son's mom split up soon after the younger Dwyane Wade was born, Wade made sure he was heavily involved in his children's lives.
His foundation now reaches from his native Chicago to Miami, and claims to have reached more than 10,000 families.
Wade Sr. is especially proud of young men like Elijah Wells, an aspiring filmmaker who hails from Overtown.
Wade Sr. said the mentoring is good not just for the kids, but also for him.
"The thing I like is that I deal with a lot of different personalities and attitudes. It helps me grow, and become a better person," Wade Sr. said.
Some of the young basketball players on the girls team at Miramar view Wade Sr. as a father figure.
Not surprisingly, his message of strong fatherhood trickled down to his well-known son.
Dwyane Wade Jr. even wrote a bestselling book on the topic, entitled "A Father First."
"The main thing I told my kids is that I wanted them to be better than me. Dwyane, with what he has accomplished, and how he teaches his own kids, has done that and more," Wade Sr. said.
The Heat superstar chuckles when he hears that and said, "My sons think the same thing, that they will be better than me. That's what you want, so that they aspire to not only be better in sports, but also in life."
If you are a mentor and would like to share your story with us, please email us at mentoringmatters@cbs.com or CLICK HERE for more information about how you can become a mentor.
