Football was a golden ticket of sorts for Michael Kleber, taking him to the University of Wisconsin on a full scholarship. When an injury ended his football career, he was still able to walk away with an education.
Now, Kleber is trying to give Milwaukee youths a similar opportunity.
Kleber is teaming up with the Salvation Army to launch a youth football league, providing MPS teams with a feeder program of sorts and instilling in children the basics of the game, along with other lessons like responsibility, accountability and teamwork.
"A lot of these kids just see football as a game," Keleber says. "They have no idea how far it can take them in life."
It all happened innocently enough. Kleber was working with the Salvation Army when he came across a storage room full of old football equipment.
The Salvation Army league had previously sponsored a youth football program but funding was a constant concern. Players used hand-me-down equipment, often donated from suburban youth football programs. Transportation was a problem, too, leading to a low turnout.
"In the suburbs, youth football programs cost around $60 and often times, mom or dad can just give you a check on your way out the door," Kleber says. "Here, we can't charge the kids so the Salvation Army is the funding source."
To raise money for the upcoming season, Kleber set to work by enlisting many of his former Wisconsin teammates.
They'll gather tonight at Ward's House of Prime, 540 E. Mason St., mixing and mingling and signing autographs. Brewers broadcast personality Davey Nelson will serve as the emcee and an auction of sports memorabilia will be held.
The new program will start small, with just two leagues; one centered at Riverside High School, serving the north side of Milwaukee and another focusing on Hamilton High School, serving south side students. The program is for children in fifth through seventh grades. Kleber says that the Salvation Army hopes to expand it to more schools and areas in the coming years.
Unlike suburban schools, where state championships are common, there is no designated feeder program for MPS schools. Many times, kids get their first experience playing football at freshman year tryouts.
"Milwaukee is a basketball town," Kleber says. "You walk through the halls of some of these schools and looking in the trophy cases, you see all kinds of basketball trophies but you're lucky to see anything other than a City Conference Championship trophy from the ‘70s when it comes to football."
Many of the program's coaches are local firefighters and police officers. Some own businesses and some are parents. Kleber, himself, plans to help out, too. In addition to football and life skills, the program will also help guide the players' lives with strong and positive male role models.
Many of these children come from single-parent homes and lack male authority figures in their lives.
"The number of children in fatherless homes is close to the 70 percent range," Kleber says. "Having a father-figure in your life ... you can't even imagine how much that has an effect on young people."
Tickets for tonight's fund-raiser, which begins at 5 p.m., are available at the door for $60.
