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Meet Antwan Sorrells
Soldiers To Sidelines Alumni end up coaching at all different levels. Some get into some internships at the college level. One such position directly involves Army veteran Antwan Sorrells. Sorrells retired from the Army as an E-5 Sergeant with four deployments on his military service resume. He is a native of West Virginia, and a 2003 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, WV where he was a star running back and standout sprinter on the track team.
Sorrells had gone through two 180 deployments in Iraq, then two more in Afghanistan. As a qualified Special Ops officer, he was involved in several major missions during the campaigns in both areas. It was during his final tour that he was injured significantly, receiving severe scarring in his retinas that has left him legally blind as a result of the two IED blasts.
Searching for a niche in his post military life, Sorrells decided to attend a Soldiers To Sidelines seminar after recalling the influence football had had on his life and in developing his character.
"It was a great experience," Sorrells said. "After only about 15 minutes into my first session with Coach Bernstein and Coach Smith, I knew this was a path I wanted to go forward with."
Sorrell's first assignment was back in Beckley. He coached a youth team in the local league, and was the administrator for the local Punt, Pass, and Kick competition. It was a stint that meant a lot to Sorrells. "It was especially meaningful in that it was my hometown," Sorrells said. "There are a lot of young kids back in Beckley that are in need of guidance. There are some very real drug issues in town there now, and it is critical for so many of these kids just to have someone believe in them and to do the right things. It was good to be back in Beckley and to help them in some fashion."
In the fall of 2016, Sorrell's coaching took the next step, when he was chosen to work an internship with West Virginia Wesleyan College’s football program. This was also significant for Bernstein and Smith, as they were seeing one of their STS graduated working at the D-II level.
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