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The Pride of Clairton: Building the Bears

Written by J. Brady McCullogh on .

"Clairton's success on the football field doesn't begin or end with the varsity team. It starts with a dedicated group of volunteer youth coaches who use their own experiences to steer the boys in the right direction" - by J. Brady McCullough.

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(Photo: From left, Taymier Jamison, 13, Harrison Dreher, 14, and Daniel Payo, 14, review film from one of their Midget football games in October at coach Corey Wright's house. "There is only one thing to be in Clairton if you are a boy ... a Bear," Wright says. Julia Rendleman/Post-Gazette.)



"The clock strikes 5 on a Monday afternoon. The middle-school-age boys walk up Halcomb Street, headed for the red brick house with the white door. Inside, the film from Saturday's game is loaded in the DVD player and paused on the flat screen.

If a boy wants to be a Clairton Bear, he'd better be sitting here with the town's midget league team. Twelve teenagers of varying size, development and attention span sit around the TV, packed onto small sofas. They snack on brownies and Starbursts as Corey Wright, a Bear from 1997 to 2000, pounces on their every error.

Taymier Jamison, bean-pole thin with the fitting nickname of "Feather," is up first.

"FEATHER!" Wright yells. "This is why I call you FEATHER! Watch yourself! You're way better than that, man! This is FOOTBALL! Patty cake, patty cake! Patty cake, patty cake!"

The team's quarterback, Noah Hamlin, piles on."