00:00A new start for the Chinapu brothers, Hakeem and Kadeem, to take their sprinting prowess to a new level.
00:06The St. Benedict's College athletes are the latest to grab the olive branch put out by iSupport Athletes Centred
00:12to study and compete in the United States for Iowa Western Community College.
00:18The two previous athletes to be given athletic scholarships to Wayland Baptist University are Nataniela King and Leticia Campbell.
00:26Both athletes have reportedly been excelling since.
00:28Founder of iSupport Athletes Centred, Richard Woodruff, has high hopes for the Chinapus.
00:34Really excited for them. I've watched them grow into good young men and the opportunity to help them now is important for us.
00:44What was the process like to get them on board?
00:47Well, basically we have two people outside. They are looking at colleges for us.
00:51And the opportunity came when we were contacted by one who said they had a junior college interested.
01:03The Chinapu brothers specialize in the 100 and 200 meters and are two emerging sprinters coming out of TNT.
01:10Kadeem, who will be studying business administration and management, has recorded personal bests of 10.52 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.66 seconds in the 200 meters.
01:21I mean, I feel great about the opportunity I get.
01:27Just go and try to follow my studies, become a better athlete.
01:32What do you think about your progress in the sport so far?
01:35I mean, I make great progress. It's just to get better on from now and do better things in the future.
01:40Hakeem holds bests of 10.51 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.14 seconds in the 200 meters.
01:48I'm looking forward to be a better athlete in the future and do a lot of studies in the U.S.
01:54Alright. How do you intend to improve on your times?
01:58Well, I have to stay consistent in training. You know, always listen to the coach.
02:04And yeah, just stay consistent in training to improve on my times.
02:07Once they've agreed to take up the opportunity, it now becomes a task of filing the paperwork.
02:14The I Support Athlete Centered Group plays its part in helping athletes with this process.
02:19Yes, the paperwork can be a bit challenging, especially for the boys if they don't know how to navigate the school's website.
02:26Because the first thing they are given is a school's ID and a school email.
02:31So they have to now go into the website, change the password, and navigate that whole process of registering for classes,
02:42registering for housing, answering all of the athletic questions.
02:49Their father, Andrew Chinapu, thanked the I Support Initiative for making the link
02:53and also praised the coach, Gunnis Poussard, of their local club, Simplex, for the work he has done to get them to this point.
03:00I'm very much grateful for this opportunity, must say.
03:06The two sprinters will be leaving on January 4th, 2026.
03:10The I Support Athlete Centered continues to seek financial support for those who wish to add to the development of local athletes.
03:18Sergio Dufour, TV6 Sport.
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