About

Wyatt Kingston was born July 4th, 1951.  His family consisted of his  Grandfather (James), Grandmother (Sally),  and sister (Sally).

In 1960  after his Grandfathers death Wyatt, his Grandmother, and his sister moved to Richmond to live with his Aunt (Roxie). Wyatt began playing organized sports (baseball, basketball and football) at age 9 under Coach Williams. Coach Williams filled in the void left by his Grandfathers absence and was a great role model. Wyatt was a very good athlete but couldn’t play sports in high school because he had to work to pay the household bills. Wyatt graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1969. After High school he spent 4 years in the U.S. Army and was discharged a disabled veteran with a Purple Heart.  He first began working with youth as a volunteer coach, while in the military, after being discharged from the Army, he began working at the V.A hospital. As a volunteer coach he worked with youth in the Blackwell housing project. At the time the Blackwell community had the highest murder rate in the state and as the only volunteer in that community he made it his mission to help the Blackwell Community overcome the negative reputation by introducing the youth to sports and conflict resolution to learn how to work out their disputes. He coached basketball and football for 5 years and was the only volunteer coach for the duration. Wyatt’s objective as a coach was to use sports as a vehicle to recruit participants and teach them life skills. Wyatt worked for the City of Richmond (Recreation and Parks) for 30 years as a Recreation Program Specialist. He would go on to become the only employee to work at all 20 recreation centers. Wyatt worked for Recreation and Parks from 1985 to 1998. He worked at Hillside boys and girls club from 1998 to 2002 as the Director, after they changed over from Recreation and Parks. As Director of the Hillside club he and his program participants achieved many unique accomplishments. among them: #1 junior fencer in the state. #1 in Olympic weightlifting competition 3 consecutive years, 1st robotics team, chess tournament winners, 1st equestrian program, and 3 consecutive state youth of the year winners. In 2006 Wyatt began working for Recreation and Parks again to teach non-traditional sports and recreation. Wyatt currently facilitates programs for seniors, such as pickle ball, badminton corn hole, archery, darts and strength and conditioning.