There are some brothers on our team. They are not biological siblings but both are African American kids that were adopted by an African American mother. The younger one has some mental disabilities (we usually have to tie his shoes for him). The older one has spent a lot of time in trouble over the years mostly due to coming to his younger brother's defense. Over the last 2 seasons I've heard the older one mention that his "mom" (adopted mother) doesn't actually care for them and that he has to take care of his brother at school and home.

As coaches we never really saw anything wrong. They have clothes that are decent. They don't seem hungry. Never saw any signs of physical abuse. I did frequently drive them home after practice last year and this year the other coach now lives close to their house so he would take them home at times. They had some other friends on the team that also lived that direction that would give them rides. I've never seen the mother in person. I've never seen her drop them off or pick them up or even come to a meet.

Well the older one ran away on Sunday morning and went to the other coaches house with his face beaten, swollen and bloody. He wanted to stay there because he said his mom was beating him. The coach called home and asked if the kid could stay there until things calmed down. He also wanted to sense if the younger one was OK. She said no he couldn't stay there and had him taken into DCFS custody. Turns out mom works for DCFS as a case worker. An out of region DCFS agent is now investigating so that office politics don't interfere. Both boys were in school today and the police were called apparently because they asked him about his face and he reported his mom had beaten him. I saw the younger one at equipment turn in but not the older one.

Pretty somber feeling. You grow to care for these kids. Especially when they start off so difficult to deal with their personality and their outbursts when we first started with them and then somehow you eventually get through to them and you see them make huge strides in their discipline, respect and wrestling capabilities.