Patrick Thomas

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Children of all ages from the central city of Milwaukee gather every Tuesday and Thursday evening at Martin Luther King Park, but not to play football, basketball or soccer, and not just to hang out.

They are there to practice gymnastics.

The Milwaukee Flyers, a tumbling team intended to help youths exercise their minds as well as their bodies, was formed in 2005. The youths perform at everything from block parties to Bastille Days, and Summerfest to Brady Fest. On Tuesday, the Flyers will be at the Wisconsin State Fair at noon on the Activity Stage.

The group's founder and president, Charles Grant, created the nonprofit tumbling team with his brothers Allen and Terrell more than 10 years ago and recruits children of all ages by word of mouth. Its mission: Get inner-city children off the streets and onto the mats.

The Flyers have about 45 children signed up as members this year. Last year, they had 23.

"What makes this unique is this isn't a basketball or football program," he said. "I'm able to help kids out in a positive way through gymnastics."

Grant described his own childhood as troubled. His dad wasn't around while he was growing up, and he resorted to drug dealing and violence. He hatched the idea of a tumbling group for city children while he was incarcerated.

"I was in and out of incarceration. I knew I wanted to change but I didn't know how to change," he said. "That's why we try to do some wonderful things inside this community because we did a lot of negative things."

Grant's brothers, who serve as coaches for the Flyers, are professional gymnasts and helped Grant get the Flyers off the ground. His brothers work with the Jessie White Tumblers based out of Chicago. They were created in 1959 to provide a positive alternative for urban children, and have performed in thousands of venues and multiple countries. Growing up, Grant said he heard all about his brothers' success as gymnasts while he was locked away in a jail cell. He modeled the Flyers after Jessie White's team and even received donated mats and equipment from the Chicago group.

"I'm not a gymnast, but I'm passionate about giving back to the community and guiding these youth," Grant said.

Curtis Chalmers joined the Flyers 10 years ago. He saw them perform at a park and immediately wanted in. Chalmers is now a sophomore at Sliver Lake College in Manitowoc, but his mother, Sherry Williams, said he would never have made it to college if it weren't for the Flyers.

Grant served as a watchdog for Chalmers during his childhood. Williams said he would pick him up if he needed a ride, check his grades, make sure he had school supplies, discipline him by not letting him perform if he misbehaved, and calling him up and just talking to him when he needed help.

"If my son didn't have the Flyers, I don't know where he would be," Williams said. "He (Chalmers) had a troublesome childhood, he was getting in a lot of trouble, but the Flyers were always there to come to the rescue."

Williams is thankful for what Grant and his team of tumblers do. She said they are a "village" that helps to raise a child.

"Curtis was in a lot of trouble when he was 16, and Charles helped get him on track. He was there for him," Williams said.

Chalmers said said the city needs this group because it shows children growing up in a troubled home a different environment and gives them a goal to strive for.

"I was a troubled teen with no guidance," he said. The Flyers were my guidance."

The Flyers are attempting to raise $10,000 for the gym at the New Hope Church of God In Christ. It's where they practice during the winter, and Grant hopes it can be a permanent home for the group and a place "not just for gymnastics, but for recreation, a place to study and bond outside of gymnastics," Grant said.