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Berkley's Safe Haven from Gun Violence

For kids in the Norfolk neighborhood of Berkley, the football field is often one of the few places safe from gun violence. Just as he has for the past two decades, Glen Yearling prepares the Berkley Timberwolves for the 2021 season, aiming to win on the gridiron and instill his players with a sense of discipline, belonging and hope.

Story by Olivia George with photos by Talia Sprague for The Virginian-Pilot

Glen Yearling, coach of the Berkley Timberwolves, high-fives players while they run laps prior to a practice in Norfolk, Va. on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. “You cut corners now, you going to be cutting corners for the rest of your life," Yearling said to one
An older player of the Berkley Timberwolves leads a group run around Berkley Park on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021 prior to a practice. “This field is our safe haven,” 27-year-old Harlequinn Waddell, a former player of Yearlings, said as players began a set of j
Players with the Berkley Timberwolves, a youth football team lead by Glen Yearling, line up beneath a goal post prior to practice on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. For the past two decades, Yearling has offered the Timberwolves as a "safe haven" for local kids t
Several Berkley Timberwolves players toss around a football prior to a Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021 practice. The Timberwolves, led by Glen Yearling, have offered a space for children between age 6-14 to learn the sport of football, and a sense of discipline, p
Several players for the Berkley Timberwolves reach into a trailer attached to head coach Glen Yearling's van for a football prior to practice on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. For the past two decades, the Timberwolves, a youth football team in Norfolk's Berkley
Larry Williams, assistant coach for the Berkley Timberwolves, helps a player find a pair of shoes prior to practice on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Although cleats are supposted to be provided by the players parents, Williams and head coach Glen Yearling went
Jahkari Allen, age 7, stands on the sidewalk near the corner of Campostella and East Indian River Road in Norfolk, Va. on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, while working a donation drive for the Berkley Timberwolves. “When it’s green, I hydrate. Then, when it’s red,
Elias Williams, center, punches an older player while riding to a Berkley Timberwolves practice on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. After a few moments, Larry Williams, Elias's dad and an assistant coach for the Timberwolves, yells from the passenger seat for ever
A player with the Berkley Timberwolves watches out the window after being picked up by coach Glen Yearling prior to a practice on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Before practice, Yearling hitches a trailer of football equipment to his van and leaves his house in
Glen Yearling, coach of the Berkley Timberwolves, drives around Norfolk, Va. before a practice on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, picking up kids who lack transportation to the practice field in the Norfolk neighborhood of Berkley. During Yearling's two and a hal
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