Coach Jerry Mason was a very talented athlete in high school, but never got the support he needed to enhance his athletic potential. Turning his past into tinder for flame, Coach Jerry brandished a simple attitude "Let's go out here and give youth the support they need to reach their untapped potential".  Therefore, Coach Jerry went out into the community where there are kids every where with untapped athletic potential with the mindset to get the kids off the streets and into a unified cohort where they would be both academically and physically active. By tethering academic excellence to physical activity, the TJ Striders Youth Track and Field Club was started.