For Kristopher Price, youth sports have always meant more than touchdowns and championships. Growing up in Dallas, the lessons he learned on the football field shaped the direction of his life. The coaches who guided him weren’t just instructors calling plays—they were mentors, disciplinarians, and sometimes even father figures. Years later, those same experiences would inspire him to build something of his own.
Today, Price is the founder and driving force behind the Dtown Steelers, a grassroots program that has spent the past decade creating opportunities for young people across Dallas. What began as a youth football initiative has grown into a broader community effort focused on mentorship, discipline, and life skills for children as young as four years old.
“This is year 10 for us,” Price said. “I’ve been coaching over 20 years, but running my own organization for about 10. I grew up in the youth sports system, and those coaches were like mentors to me—like long-lost uncles. That was my safe haven.”
Price’s journey into coaching began with his own experience playing youth football in Dallas with the Pleasant Grove Trojans, a program that has long been a staple in the Pleasant Grove community. As a young quarterback, Price found himself surrounded by adults who cared about more than the scoreboard.
“They’d pick me up for practice,” he recalled. “If I was hungry, they’d get me something to eat. They helped keep me in line too. My mom could call a coach if I was acting up at school and say, ‘Hey, talk to him.’ That showed me people could love and care about you outside your family.”
Those moments stuck with him long after he finished playing. When Price started raising children of his own, he realized how important it was to recreate that environment for the next generation. He wanted to give young people the same kind of structure and encouragement he once received.
That idea eventually became the Dtown Steelers.
At first, the organization focused primarily on youth sports. Over time, however, Price realized the needs of the children in the program extended beyond athletics. The Steelers now serve boys and girls between the ages of four and fourteen and have expanded to include mentoring programs, entrepreneurship training, and even an after-school feeding initiative for children who may not always have access to meals once the school day ends.
“It became bigger than sports,” Price explained. “We have kids who need more than just football practice. So we created programs to support them in different ways.”
The mentorship component focuses on discipline and life skills—lessons that apply both on and off the field. Price says those conversations can be as simple as teaching responsibility at home or encouraging young athletes to take pride in their behavior at school.
“It’s not just about football,” he said. “We’re teaching them how to carry themselves, how to respect people, how to handle responsibilities.”
Another initiative within the program introduces young participants to entrepreneurship. Recently, the Steelers partnered with the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce to host an event where local entrepreneurs spoke with students about business and career possibilities.
“We had entrepreneurs come talk to them about business and life,” Price said. “Just putting them in front of different opportunities helps broaden their horizons.”
After a decade of working with young people, Price has begun to see the long-term results of that approach. Some of the boys who first joined the Steelers as small children are now teenagers preparing for adulthood. Several have continued on to college, and some have already graduated.
“I’ve had boys since they were six years old, and now they’re 16 and 17,” Price said. “Some of them are 18 or 19 and in college now. A couple of them are even college graduates.”
For Price, those successes are deeply personal. He speaks about the program not just as a coach or organizer but as someone who sees himself reflected in the young people he mentors.
“It’s a tremendous feeling to know we’re making progress in the community,” he said. “When you’re teaching young men that look like you that there’s a way forward, that means something.”
Still, the work has not been easy. Like many community-based organizations, the Dtown Steelers have faced persistent financial challenges. For the first eight years of the program’s existence, Price largely funded its operations himself.
“Funding has been the biggest struggle,” he said. “A lot of it was coming out of my own pocket, just trying to keep things moving.”
Another challenge has been maintaining consistent support from parents and families. Price acknowledges that life circumstances sometimes make it difficult for parents to attend games or stay involved. But over time, he has seen that change as the program continues to grow.
“As people started seeing the impact of the program, parents began getting more involved,” he said. “That’s been encouraging.”
Despite those challenges, Price remains committed to expanding the program’s reach and impact in the years ahead. His long-term vision includes establishing a permanent home for the organization and building a structure that can continue serving the community for decades.
“In the next 10 years, I’d love for us to have our own facility,” Price said. “A place where we can run our programs and keep growing.”
He also hopes to eventually pass the program down to the next generation of his own family, including his oldest son.
“Hopefully my son will start taking the reins by then,” he said with a smile.
For now, the focus remains on continuing the work that has defined the program’s first decade. Based in Pleasant Grove but drawing participants from neighborhoods across Dallas—including Oak Cliff and North Dallas—the Dtown Steelers continue to prepare for another season of youth football, summer camps, and community outreach efforts.
Price is also planning new initiatives aimed at giving back beyond the field, including a “feed the homeless” effort that will encourage young athletes to participate in community service.
For him, the purpose of the program remains clear: creating a place where young people can find guidance, opportunity, and a sense of belonging.
“A coach is a very intricate part of a child’s life,” Price said. “You just have to be the right kind of coach—the one who sets the example and helps them move forward in life.”
And for the hundreds of young people who have come through the Dtown Steelers over the past decade, that example has already begun to make a lasting difference.