MEET THE TEAM
Founder
Donald Washington Jr.
"Hello I'm Donald Washington Jr and I'm the Director and Founder of the Youth Empowerment Readiness Program Inc. Where our mission statement is "If there's no trust then there's no us". I have my bachelor's degree in Business Management/Entrepreneurship. We have been running the organization for 6 years doing community events and participating in sporting programs. I’ve been Coaching Youth football for over ten years on all age levels and have been coaching High School football the past 3 year's. In our program you will see that the children learn important fundamentals of life through our coaches and mentors coaching and the community events we do. It's really more than Sport's when it comes to our "Youth Organization."
Football
Larry Clopton
I’ve been coaching for 5 years. The first 1st year i coached 7th grade as the defensive coordinator and we took 2nd place in the SSJFA. Year two we merged with with Spartans and took home the CMC 7th grade championship. I was an assistant helping with the offensive and defensive lineman. This year i stayed with the Spartans to finish coaching our remaining Dark Knight players as they transition to play high school and i was the offensive coordinator for the 6th grade unit.The motto I live by “Winning will come once you fall in love with the process of consistent improvement”
Fredrick Nunn
Coach Fredrick Nunn has been coaching little league football for 14 years. He has been with the Dark Knight organization since 2015. He loves working with youth and attended Rhema Bible College with a emphasizes on youth ministry. He is currently serving as an Associate Pastor at Eternal Life Worship Center. Fredrick is passionate about building the next generation physical, mentally and spiritual.
Kevin Fondren
Head Coach 7th grade
This will be my 8th year coaching youth football, (15th year coaching youth sports) I Played Football on both the High School and Collegiate level. Coaching and Developing youth athletes is one of the most rewarding things that I do. It is a great honor and responsibility that God has blessed me with that I do not take for granted. #Knightup
Bryan Bruner
Born and raised in Kansas City, MO by way of Daytona Beach, FL (Bethune-Cookman Univ.) and Columbia, MO (Mizzou Alumni). I have a passion for football and the life lessons that can be derived from it. I desire to make a positive impact in the community that I serve and be a mentor to the youth in the community from which I come. My aim is to instill the confidence and skills necessary to be successful athletically and personally.
I have been around and played football since a youth playing South Suburban Football (Steelers: Coach Donald Washington Sr.), Ervin Middle School(Pioneers/Cougars), Hickman Mills (Cougars), Bethune-Cookman University (Wildcats) then matriculating to The University of Missouri – Columbia (Tigers) in a student capacity.
I’ve been coaching since 2013 starting with the now defunct Kansas City Cowboys youth football (along with Coach Washington II) and then Youth Empowerment Readiness Program (Dark Knights Football) for the past 7 years – I’ve coached at the levels of 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U and 12U throughout various seasons. In that time I’ve coached in multiple tournament and league championships.
Cheer
Breanna Johnson
Head Cheer Coach
I was born & raised in Kansas City MO. I have a high passion for sports.
This will be my 5th year coaching youth cheerleading. I am going into my second year of coaching competitive cheerleading with (QPE). I cheered in high school. At the collegian level I ran track at Park University.
The reason I coach is to give the next kid the opportunity to grow and better their self. Give those children to have a get away from the problems. As a coach I want the youth to understand it’s more than just sports and hard work pays off. Learn to know their a student-athlete.
Basketball
Marcus Whitney
A Hickman Mills C-1 School District Alumni, Mr. Whitney is a Class of 1997 graduate of Ruskin High School.
Following his graduation from Ruskin, Marcus was dedicated to supporting South Kansas City
by organizing and running several youth sports leagues and activities. He served as President of
Youth Basketball Organization, worked as the Director of Youth Life Link, and most recently,
worked as the Youth Program Director for Team KC SafeZone. Marcus brings 15 years total of
coaching experience to Ruskin, including 3 years as the Junior Varsity basketball Coach at
Ruskin.