CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – Community members gathered at Carver Recreation Center Saturday afternoon, April 11, to honor history-making Black athletes in Charlottesville.

Alex-Zan, an author and trailblazer in Charlottesville, organizes a Black History Pathway event each year. This year’s event focused on sports.

“Sports is what you play. Living is what you do,” Alex-Zan said. “Be sure you have some life skills and some thinking skills. So it can prepare you through sports and even beyond sports. Sports is only temporary for the average individual, and then there’s life after sports.”

The event gave community members a chance to connect with each other and provided a platform to share lessons, messages, and stories with the next generation of athletes in Charlottesville.

“A lot of what’s going on today is a result of what happened yesterday, so we wanted to bring some of our yesterday athletes together and have them the fellowship, as well as share a message to the present-day athletes,” Alex-Zan said.

Lloyd Burruss, a former Kansas City Chiefs safety, said the event was a way to honor those who came before him, and the family and community that supported his journey to the NFL.

“Before games, whether it’s practice or whatever, you know, these people in this community, that was my strength,” Burruss said. “That’s what I got my energy from. That’s what made me keep going on and never quit.”

For the next generation of athletes, Burruss said reaching their goals takes hard work but is worthwhile in the end.

“The lesson I would like to give to the young is that God’s in control and He has a plan for you,” Burruss said. “If you can dream something, you can achieve it. You just have to work at it. It takes a lot of hard work, but it’s very worthwhile when you accomplish your dreams.”

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