Mahomet Seymour Athlete of the Month: Dante Roberts

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

Parents have two choices when receiving a diagnosis that is unfavorable about a child.

They can accept it, and make due as best as they can.

They can reject it and independently search for alternative solutions.

“The best thing for me,” Katrina Roberts said, “is to tell me something can’t be done.”

Roberts and her husband, Guy, are the parents of seven children. Three are their biological children. Four are adopted, including two who are brothers.

The youngest of the seven, Daunte Roberts, is a senior at Mahomet-Seymour High School and a standout three-sport athlete.

That is not what was predicted when Daunte was in kindergarten.

“They told me he would never be able to read, never learn basic math or be able to live independently,” Katrina Roberts said.

He has a form of cerebral palsy, static encephalopathy.

Last week, Daunte Roberts accepted an offer to play football collegiately at McKendree University, in Lebanon. He plans to major in criminal justice.

***

Like most teen-agers, Daunte Roberts has goals and ambitions.

“I’ve had a life oriented around sports,” Roberts said. “I wanted to be one of the people in my family to go to college for a sport.

“It feels like a dream come true. I only applied to McKendree. To me, it shows with dedication and hard work, anything can be achieved.”

The work ethic and desire Roberts displayed are only part of his success story.

“It’s a combination of a momma who believed in him, and living in a community where sports are so supported,” Katrina Roberts said. “Sports have been good for him.

“They have built his confidence and boosted his ability to believe he could.

“I’ve told Daunte he can do anything he wants; he just might do it a little differently.”

***

Daunte came into the Roberts’ home when he was seven days old.

Katrina Roberts realizes with hindsight that there were some potential warning signs during Daunte’s pre-school years.

“His hands would tremble when we were trying to teach him to use a spoon,” Katrina Roberts said. “I have a brother with cerebral palsy. His hands would do that.”

When Daunte Roberts was 5, his parents had him tested.

That was when they received the news.

“He has the same thing his birth mother had,” Katrina Roberts said. “He had developmental delays and no cause and effect thinking that if I do this, then this will happen.

“They said he would top out (with his ability to learn) at about 11 (years old).”

Katrina Roberts wouldn’t accept that opinion as fact.

“I’m a relentless mom,” she said. “I left no stone unturned.

“We looked for answers and therapy.”

***

It hasn’t been easy.

“When he went to kindergarten, he couldn’t learn,” Katrina Roberts said. “He didn’t know anything different at the end of the year than he did at the beginning.”

He repeated kindergarten, and showed progress.

He was also given an IEP — an individual education plan — which school districts are mandated to follow.

“The IEPs are renewed every year,” Katrina Roberts said. “You have academic goals, transition goals and life skills goals.”

Challenges persisted.

“It hasn’t been easy,” Katrina Roberts said. “Administrators have struggled to understand him.

“Teachers in Mahomet have been phenomenal. He has had some of the best that go the extra mile.

“The teachers here have made it all worthwhile.”

***

Coaches like athletes who are gung-ho and enthusiastic.

For Daunte Roberts, that attitude comes naturally, but caused some difficulties in his younger years.

“He has an intensity that is at one level,” Katrina Roberts said. “It’s all in or all out.

“He doesn’t have a practice speed and a game speed. I’d get two or three calls a week (while he was in elementary school) saying he played too hard at recess.

“He doesn’t have the ability to say he needs to bring it down a notch. You can tell him that, and the next day he has forgotten it.”

The biggest change she has noticed has occurred in the past year.

“He has come to accept himself and his disabilities,” Katrina Roberts said. “Up to now, he wanted to disguise it. He didn’t want anyone to know.”

***

Throughout Daunte Roberts’ four years in high school, Keith Pogue and Rob Ledin have gotten to know him, both as a student as well as an athlete.

Pogue was his varsity football coach.

“It is amazing to see what he has overcome to get to this point,” Pogue said. “I know I do not possess that kind of fortitude. His relentless effort is tied to a set of parents who have unflagging support and who have pushed in every possible way to get the best opportunities for their son.

“He was a fun young man to coach. You never had to worry about his effort, and he always made mistakes at 100 percent speed. That’s all you can ask from a player as a coach.”

Ledin said he didn’t have any pre-conceived opinions about Daunte Roberts.

“I try not to let any wrestler’s past cloud my perceptions of them,”  Ledin said. “I give each new wrestler to our program a clean slate.

“I understand their past, but give each wrestler a chance to show their talents and their faults to me through the season. After all, we are all human and have both positive and negative aspects in our lives. I choose to work with each wrestler based on where they are now.”

He didn’t change his approach for Roberts.

“I can honestly say I’ve treated Daunte, and all my wrestlers, the same, as if they were my own son,” Ledin said. “I love them, teach them, nurture them, hold them accountable, discipline with care, and build them up when they are down.

“Daunte has always responded positively to all those. He has been a joy to coach. He has matured and improved not only his wrestling skills, but also his character over the past four years.

“This season, especially, Daunte has been a leader for our team both vocally and visually with his hard work ethic.”

***

Daunte Roberts has faced no greater challenge than his senior year.

He started the year, Katrina Roberts said, with seven core credits.

“To get to college, he has to have 16,” she said. “He is taking a load and a half.”

His classroom schedule includes two Advanced Placement classes as well as two on-line classes.

At the end of the current semester, he will have 13 core credits.

He will take summer classes to finish his requirements.

He is taking both an Algebra and a geometry class.

“He struggles with Algebra,” Katrina Roberts said, “but he understands Geometry better than I do.

“He’s a strategic thinker. He can develop strategies to help him remember things.”

***

Roberts reading ability is between a fifth- and sixth-grade level.

“It’s hard for him to retain what he’s read,” Katrina Roberts said, “but if he hears it, he can remember it.

“I’m working to get him affiliated with a program to get his textbooks on tape in college.”

At Mahomet-Seymour, Roberts has special accommodations that are beneficial.

“They read his tests to him and do notes for him,” Katrina Roberts said. “It’s hard for him to listen and write it.”

Daunte Roberts recognizes the bigger picture.

“To me, its showing anything is possible,”  he said. “You can say it’s not, but it is.

“I don’t try to make excuses. I try to make answers. It’s kind of challenging, but worth it to get my goal. I’ll knuckle down and get it done.”

He also understands the assistance he receives is invaluable.

“A lot of teachers have always been in my corner and have helped me when I struggle,” he said.

***

Roberts was a two-time All-Apollo Conference first-team selection in football, earning the recognition as both a junior and a senior linebacker.

In wrestling this year, he has a 17-14 record, competing frequently at 182 pounds. He is participating then at a weight class more than 15 pounds above his natural weight.

His coach believes his intensity helps him to succeed.

“Wrestlers have to have an edge, and I appreciate that edge because that is an intangible that you really don’t coach, they have it or they don’t,” Ledin said. “Daunte understands the ‘blue collar’ work ethic.

“He knows he has to work harder than anyone else to achieve. He does it without complaint or excuse.”

Pogue was accustomed to seeing similar traits throughout Roberts’ prep football career.

“Daunte has an unbelievable motor and never stops,” Pogue said. “He plays hard every single snap and never takes a play off. He has a nose for the ball and it is fun to watch him fly around the field.

“I’m so pleased he is getting an opportunity to continue playing the sport he loves. It is a testament to his and his parents’ tenacity.”

In track, he is a sprinter who qualified for the AAU nationals several years ago.

The competition in itself is the reward. He’s not seeking publicity or recognition.

“He doesn’t do things for the accolades,” Katrina Roberts said.

In the Class of 2019 at M-S, Roberts is one of three boys who will have participated in three sports all four years. He joins a group that includes Dawson Finch and Jordan Veldman.

***

Katrina Roberts can think of one label that is not appropriate for her son.

“I wouldn’t call him an overachiever,” she said. “He wants the most out of life that he can get.”

And yet, without her intervention and that of her husband, the story could be a lot different for the 19-year-old.

“I believe he would be like his birth mom,” Katrina Roberts said. “She’s pleasant, a sweet girl who acted like an 11-year-old.”

Daunte Roberts is looking to a future beyond high school. And, past college.

“Then to the Marines, and make that my career,” he said.

Roberts would like to follow the path of a family friend, Matt LaCour.

“I looked up to him,” Daunte Roberts said. “It seemed like it would be awesome.”

In addition to what he has done for himself, there’s the element of what he can do for others.

“Daunte is truly an inspiration because of how hard he works in all areas of his life,” Ledin said.