Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

12 hours ago

Will Valadao Spoil Trump’s Plan for July 4th ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Signing?

13 hours ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

16 hours ago

Elon Musk Says Senate Bill Would Destroy Jobs and Harm US

16 hours ago

Israel Strikes Pound Gaza, Killing 60, Ahead of US Talks on Ceasefire

17 hours ago

Trump’s Administration Finds Harvard Violated Students’ Civil Rights, WSJ Reports

18 hours ago

How Did the Supreme Court Rule? Here’s a Look at the Big Cases

3 days ago
Denzel Washington Says Boys & Girls Clubs Crucial to His Success
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 7 years ago on
October 4, 2018

Share

NEW YORK — Denzel Washington joined the Boys & Girls Club of America when he was 5. He’s never really left.

“And he said: ‘Your natural ability will only take you so far.'” — Denzel Washington remembering advice from his counselor 
The 63-year old Oscar-winning actor says the lessons he learned from the youth organization became the foundation of his success. One valuable lesson came after a track and field event where Washington found he wasn’t as fast as one other child.
“I was real nervous about that, and I was thrown off by it,” Washington recalled. A counselor noticed that something was wrong and came over. “I remember him telling me that, ‘You know, yes, that other kid is fast, but he doesn’t know how to run. He doesn’t know how to run the turns or pass the baton.’ And he said: ‘Your natural ability will only take you so far.'”

The Advice Paid off When Learning His Craft

That advice paid off when learning his craft as an actor. He started performing as a junior in college and had instant success. But he remembered that his natural ability would only take him so far. “So I decided to continue my studies and go on to work on my master’s, and that was directly related to an experience I had as a child in the Boys & Girls Club,” Washington said.
Washington was in the nation’s capital for the annual Boys & Girls Club National Youth of the Year award ceremony. This year’s Southwest Youth of the Year recipient was Malachi Haynes, who accepted the honor before an audience that included members of Congress and Boys & Girls Clubs of America supporters, including Washington, who is the national spokesman. Haynes, seated next to Washington, called it surreal. “Probably 30 emotions all at once,” he said of the honor.
When Washington was young, he spent so much time at the Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon, New York, that “literally, they had to send me home.” He remembers at one club talent show he played a member of the Beatles.
“I think I was John, if not Paul. I think I was John. I definitely wasn’t Ringo. Not that I’m knocking Ringo, but I was I wasn’t playing the drums, I was playing guitar,” he said.

Washington Applied the Lessons He Learned

While his children were not as active with the Boys and Girls Club of America, Washington applied the lessons he learned to their upbringing.

“The things I learned in the club I applied to them. All my children played sports like I did in the club, and that was my way because that’s what I learned.” — Denzel Washington
“The things I learned in the club I applied to them. All my children played sports like I did in the club, and that was my way because that’s what I learned. I was like, ‘OK, I’ll get them involved in sports’ and my oldest boy made it all the way to the NFL.” (Washington’s son, John, played for the St. Louis Rams and recently starred in “Blackkklansman.”)
The organization began in 1860, offering a positive alternative to children than roaming the street. The clubs try to foster character development, citizenship and living a healthy lifestyle. Washington also recalls another element.
“Tough, tough love and keeping them busy. We didn’t realize it but we were going from one thing to another. And they kept you engaged, involved and busy. But you just thought you were just having fun.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Seek Public’s Help in Finding Missing 82-Year-Old Woman

DON'T MISS

Fresno Woman Killed in Head-On Collision, CHP Investigating

DON'T MISS

Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years for $4.2 Million Tech Startup Fraud

DON'T MISS

Bryan Kohberger Pleads Guilty in Murders of Four Idaho Students, ABC News Reports

DON'T MISS

Wildfire Near Lake Madera Country Estates Burns 12 Acres, Now 100% Contained

DON'T MISS

Fresno County CHP Arrest Two in Interstate 5 Drug, Gun, and Counterfeit Money Bust

DON'T MISS

California Seizes Over 600,000 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks. Newsom Calls for Safe Celebrations

DON'T MISS

Where Trade Talks Stand With Major US Partners Ahead of Tariffs-Hike Deadline

DON'T MISS

Labor Icon Huerta Breaks Ground on Fresno Park Bearing Her Name

UP NEXT

Jury in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Sex Trafficking Trial to Start Deliberating

UP NEXT

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

UP NEXT

Anna Wintour to Step Down From Vogue Editor-in-Chief Role, Media Reports Say

UP NEXT

Bobby Sherman, Easygoing Teen Idol of the 1960s and ’70s, Dies at 81

UP NEXT

Metallica Thrashes On at Levi’s, Aging Gracefully With Its Fans

UP NEXT

Mariska Hargitay Comes to Terms With a Lifetime of Family Secrets

UP NEXT

The Secret to Finding the Best Travel Bargains

UP NEXT

Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 Levels Up With Four Days of Deals Starting July 8

UP NEXT

Fresno Now Has a Professional Shakespeare Co. Thanks to Measure P Sales Tax

UP NEXT

Hips Don’t Lie, and Neither Do Ticket Sales: Shakira Adds Fresno Show

Fresno Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years for $4.2 Million Tech Startup Fraud

10 hours ago

Bryan Kohberger Pleads Guilty in Murders of Four Idaho Students, ABC News Reports

10 hours ago

Wildfire Near Lake Madera Country Estates Burns 12 Acres, Now 100% Contained

10 hours ago

Fresno County CHP Arrest Two in Interstate 5 Drug, Gun, and Counterfeit Money Bust

10 hours ago

California Seizes Over 600,000 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks. Newsom Calls for Safe Celebrations

11 hours ago

Where Trade Talks Stand With Major US Partners Ahead of Tariffs-Hike Deadline

11 hours ago

Labor Icon Huerta Breaks Ground on Fresno Park Bearing Her Name

11 hours ago

DOJ Announces Arrest, Indictments in North Korean IT Worker Scheme

11 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested in Clovis for Sex-Related Crimes Against Minor

11 hours ago

Dyer’s Lobbying Works. Fresno Gets $100M for Downtown From State

11 hours ago

Clovis Police Seek Public’s Help in Finding Missing 82-Year-Old Woman

The Clovis Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating an at-risk missing adult last seen on Thursday. Pathmani Goonawarde...

9 hours ago

Clovis Police are searching for Pathmani Goonawardena, 82, who went missing nearly three weeks ago and was last seen driving a white Volvo near Copper and Auberry, possibly en route to Coarsegold. (CHP)
9 hours ago

Clovis Police Seek Public’s Help in Finding Missing 82-Year-Old Woman

fresno
9 hours ago

Fresno Woman Killed in Head-On Collision, CHP Investigating

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk attend a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

10 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years for $4.2 Million Tech Startup Fraud

Bryan Koberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students, listens during a hearing to overturn his grand jury indictment in Moscow, Idaho, U.S., October 26, 2023. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

Bryan Kohberger Pleads Guilty in Murders of Four Idaho Students, ABC News Reports

The Blanca Fire, burning 12 acres northwest of Lake Madera Country Estates in Madera County, remains active with 0% containment and no reported injuries or structural damage as the cause is under investigation as of Monday, June 30, 2025. (CalFire)
10 hours ago

Wildfire Near Lake Madera Country Estates Burns 12 Acres, Now 100% Contained

Fresno County CHP arrested two on Interstate 5 after finding about one kilogram of suspected cocaine, a loaded ghost gun, and counterfeit money during a vehicle search on Sunday, June 29, 2025. (CHP)
10 hours ago

Fresno County CHP Arrest Two in Interstate 5 Drug, Gun, and Counterfeit Money Bust

Gov. Newsom warns Californians to celebrate the Fourth of July safely, emphasizing zero tolerance for illegal fireworks which have surged to over 600,000 pounds seized this year. (Shutterstock)
11 hours ago

California Seizes Over 600,000 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks. Newsom Calls for Safe Celebrations

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend