“He’s On My Team”: A Father and Son Reflect on the Generational Impact of DC SCORES

“My name is Aspen and I love DC SCORES and I love my dad,” says Aspen McNair Jr., one of the latest recruits to the Junior SCORES team at John Lewis Elementary School. 

Aspen joined DC SCORES this fall, the first year he was eligible, but he had a personal connection with the program his entire life. His father, Aspen McNair Sr., was also a poet-athlete at John Lewis (when the school was known as West Education Campus) and has been a DC SCORES coach at Tubman Elementary School since 2017. 

“It kind of feels like he’s on my team,” says the younger Aspen about how DC SCORES has brought them together. His dad is excited that the pair are establishing something of a DC SCORES dynasty, “Just to see him get the same values and learning I got is good,” he says. “It feels great to see DC SCORES is still around — it proves how much of an asset it is to the city.”

Positive Youth Development

Aspen Jr. has shared his dad’s passion for sports since he was an infant, so he was eager to join the DC SCORES program as soon as possible.  “DC SCORES only starts if you’re in first grade,” he explains. 

Offered through the 1st through 8th grades, the DC SCORES program commences with Junior SCORES, which focuses primarily on building teamwork through soccer, though a number of Junior teams have been piloting a new writing curriculum. When poet-athletes reach the third grade, they participate in the full DC SCORES curriculum, which combines soccer, poetry, and service learning. 

Aspen waited patiently through pre-K and kindergarten to join the DC SCORES team, but the payoff was worth it. Since joining in September, he has gotten a taste for scoring goals. “He might be better than me in soccer now,” his dad admits. 

“I like DC SCORES because you can meet new friends,” says Aspen Jr. “We just play soccer. If we mess up a play, we won’t get mad. We’ll just get the ball back, and we’ll pass.”

How to take wins and losses with grace is also something the elder Aspen gained in the program. “What I learned was sportsmanship. Being respectful of your coaches, your teammates, and the other teams,” he says.

These values are what Aspen Sr. now works to instill in the Tubman poet-athletes he coaches. 

“The bigger part is teaching them how to be responsible and knowing that they have something to look forward to,” he says. “You can tell kids what to do, but until they’re in that situation when they really have to react on their own — getting that experience is great.”

Developing School Spirit 

DC SCORES has an impact beyond individual kids, too. Aspen Sr. says the program has strengthened his school’s community. “DC SCORES brings the students, the teachers, the staff together,” he says. “Here at Tubman, DC SCORES is huge and I know at many other schools it is, too.”

School pride is also an important part of Aspen Jr.’s DC SCORES experience. “He’s always excited to go to school but especially on gameday,” Aspen Sr. says. “Being able to wear that jersey on and represent his team and his school is good.”

In what seemed like fate, Aspen Jr.’s first-ever DC SCORES gameday saw him pitted against his dad’s squad. And while the father and son disagree on whose team won, both say Aspen Jr. had a great game. 

“He scored two goals,” says Aspen Sr. “Yeahhhhhhh!” his son exclaims.

“Nowhere But SCORES”

DC SCORES has operated in the District since 1994, so it’s not uncommon for multiple generations of the same family to attend gamedays and poetry slams. In fact, DC SCORES’ program model intentionally sets out to reach entire families and neighborhood groups.

When establishing new programming, the nonprofit generally expands into a cluster of elementary and middle schools in the same area so that families experience consistency in the program, even if children move schools or transition to middle school. 

Creating these steady elementary to middle school pipelines is the focus of the nonprofit’s long-term vision, known as Poet-Athlete City. By 2030, DC SCORES aims to establish a program is every Title 1 elementary and middle school in the city. 

The vision is ambitious but achievable; DC SCORES currently serves 3,500 kids at 68 public and public charter schools and is already reaching 70% of Title 1 schools.

Aspen Sr. says this deep investment in communities is what sets DC SCORES apart. 

“Being part of an organization that really cares about D.C. is a dream come true,” Aspen Sr. says. “I’ve been in D.C. since I was born but [people outside the city] kind of forget about our kids. You know, they see all the government money, but there’s still a lot of low income families and middle class [families] — youth sports isn’t on the budget.”

“DC SCORES makes everything affordable and free for the kids,” he continues. “Looking out for the students of D.C. is something that is really far from none. You can’t really find that anywhere but DC SCORES.”