Beat the Streets Philadelphia Podcast

In this episode with Jon Guevara, we discuss the upcoming Beat the Streets National Camp and Duals. Jon is the project manager for this event being held in Philadelphia for the first time. BTSP Executive Director Dan Altomare provides insight on what it means to host the event in the famous Palestra arena.A Beat the Streets Philadelphia reunion will be held during the Camp and Duals. Details can be found by emailing Dan at [email protected].

In this episode we talk with Dan Altomare. Dan is the new Executive Director of Beat The Streets Philadelphia. He succeeds James Mangan who has become the Executive Director of Beat The Streets National.Dan shares his background and involvement in the Philly Wrestling Ecosystem from his days living in the Philly Suburbs and attending Temple University to volunteering at the Police Athletic League. Dan has held multiple positions at Beat the Streets and he shares his experiences and vision for the future.Dan will become the new co-host of the Beat The Streets Philadelphia Podcast.

Jimmy Lynch is deeply involved with athletics in the City of Philadelphia. As the Executive Director for the School District, he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of athletic programming from elementary through high school. Jimmy is also an Adjunct Professor at Drexel University and is the President of the Philadelphia Public League. He shares his experiences and thoughts about partnering with Beat the Streets.

Matt Valenti is currently the Associate Head Coach at the University of Pennsylvania. He will become the Head coach of Penn Wrestling beginning with the 2025-26 season. In this episode, Matt shares his experiences as a student-athlete, as a coach, and as an administrator at Penn. The programs he has helped develop are very similar to what Beat the Streets offers, but at a different level.

In this episode we talk with Reed Fullmer. Reed is currently a student-athlete at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also a Lead Mentor for Beat the Streets Philadelphia upon graduating high school. Reed grew up in the Philly area as resident of Radnor, Pa and a student at Malvern Prep.Reed shares the lessons he learned from his coaches and from his father. He discusses how he has used these lessons in his roles as a mentor and as a student-athlete.

Clinton Matter shares his thoughts about our organization from its inception until present day. Clinton is a co-founder of Beat the Streets and currently serves as the Chairman of our Executive Board. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he was a captain of the wrestling team. Clinton was recently interviewed by Ryan Warner on the Wrestling Changed My Life Podcast. That episode is #488 and can be found on most podcast hosting platforms.

Welcome to Season 3 and new co-host Kevin McGuigan. Kevin is the Director of Wrestling Operations at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the General Manager of the Pennsylvania Regional Training Center and a Grants Coordinator with Beat the Streets Philly. In this episode, we introduce Kevin and welcome him to his new position as co-host with Executive Director James Mangan. Kevin has over 50 years experience in wrestling and shares part of his journey.

In this podcast episode, we get to speak with Kaya Sement, a Lead Mentor at BTS Philly. Kaya is a sophomore on the University of Pennsylvania wrestling team and brings tons of experience into the BTS room.Kaya first became involved in Beat the Streets as the Lifting Coach for the student-athletes. He soon realized that being a coach meant more than just teaching the student-athletes technique."One day, one of the kids came up to me and said, 'Can I ask you some advice?' And I was like, 'Yeah, definitely.' And we ended up talking for 15 minutes."But it didn't end there."There was another kid standing behind him, watching over the conversation. And when our conversation wrapped up, he came over and he's like, 'Wait, you're giving out advice? Can I ask you another question?' I was like, 'Yes, of course, I'm not just your lifting coach. I'm here for you guys.' And we ended up talking again for 15 minutes. And just seeing how appreciative they were. And I feel like you can't even put words into the face that he made. I thought about that a lot after that."When sidelined from wrestling with an injury that spring, Kaya thought about these experiences and decided to take his involvement with Beat the Streets to the next level. He became a Lead Mentor, which allowed him to have an even more significant impact on the student-athletes.Beat the Streets Philly Executive Director James Mangan added, "He committed to be a coach and a mentor this past year and our kids really respected him and looked up to him and confided in him."For Kaya, though, working with the BTS athletes came naturally."The first thing I noticed was like, I don't have to be a motivator there. Those kids are very self driven. They want to be there. Their parents aren't making them. Nobody's forcing them to be there. They're self motivating. So they're honestly some of the easiest kids to coach because you put up the program, give them some tips, and they work hard. So that's definitely what I love."

In this episode of the podcast we are blessed to speak with Olympic and World Champion, Jordan Burroughs. Since moving to Philadelphia, Jordan has been instrumental in helping out around the BTS mentoring center and has been an excellent role model for our BTS youth. He brings years of experience at the highest levels of wrestling and inspires so many in our community. Jordan shares his motivations and impact with us on the show today, along with some amazing advice to wrestling parents. We are so grateful to have someone like Jordan in the BTS family!

In this episode of the podcast, we have the chance to speak with Lender Vega, who works full-time at BTS Philly as the Wrestling Coordinator. Lender has a rich history with the Beat the Streets program.While we often talk about the intersection of academics and athletics, Lender’s story has an unusual twist. During a freshman year seminar, his teacher offered the students five extra points if they participated in a sport. Lender jumped at the opportunity and joined the wrestling team. Despite a rocky start, Lender fell in love with the sport and continued improving.Lender’s life journey has been defined by his resilience. He moved to the US from the Dominican Republic when he was just 11 years old, and at the time he didn’t know English. But Lender committed himself to school and began to excel in the classroom. “My dad from day one said: don't get in trouble and keep your grades up.”As Lender advanced on the wrestling mat, he began thinking about wrestling in college. Unlike today, Beat the Streets didn’t have a formalized mentoring program at the time. So former Executive Director Chris Hanlon walked him through the college admission process and took him on school visits.In the podcast, Executive Director James Mangan points out, “In a lot of ways, this was a pilot phase of the mentoring program. Beat the Streets was well-equipped to address the needs from a wrestling perspective, but it was always in the plan to figure out how to also serve academically. And you were early in that phase of discovery.”Lender finally settled on a Junior College in New Jersey, but his challenges didn’t stop there. Lender found that his public school education didn’t prepare him for the rigors of college, and despite his best effort, he failed out of school.It was at this tough time that Chris Hanlon reached out. “Hanlon just said, ‘Hey, stick around us and we'll see where you're where you'll land.’” He brought Lender on as a coach for Beat the Street youth. But Lender’s story doesn’t stop there. After a year of coaching, he decided to go back to school.  Lender eventually graduated from East Stroudsburg University, becoming the first college graduate in his family. And now as the Wrestling Coordinator at Beat the Streets he is doing amazing work and serving the community that he comes from. We are grateful to have Lender in the Beat the Streets family!