Shooting survivor Rondell Allen in a game against Avon (Indiana) High School in 2016.

(Photo via usatodayhss.com)

For some, after-school sports are a way for kids to hang out with their friends and have fun. But for others like Rondell Allen, sports are the answer to solving a crime epidemic in his neighborhood.

"Where we come from it's just hard, we ain't got nothing and so it's just always hard for us. That's why we play sports, sports are all we got," Allen told Fox 59.

The 19-year-old Indianapolis resident was a star defensive back on his Ben Davis High School football team until he was shot last July. He and his brother, Ali Allen, were involved in a drive-by shooting on the city’s northeast side.

"He climbed over the seat and covered me," Ali Allen, 17, said of his older brother about the shooting.

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Rondell Allen suffered gunshot wounds in his torso and leg. The hospital staff informed his mother, Althenia Allen, that when Rondell arrived, he was in critical condition.

"They told me that he was fighting for his life and that he had passed twice and they were still reviving him," Althenia Allen said. "So, the only thing I could do was call on the name of Jesus."

Miraculously, Allen survived the tragic experience and now wants to help prevent more young kids from becoming gunshot victims. He says more kids need to be involved in sports to stay out of trouble.

"Play sports, keep playing sports. It's gonna keep you out of trouble. But if you don't play sports, find something that will keep you out of trouble most definitely because the streets, it's not there, it's not what people want," he said.

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In Allen’s honor, the M.G. Dad’s Club Youth Football will host its annual Stop the Violence football tournament Aug. 3-5. The tournament recognizes football players who've been affected by gun violence in the community. In the past years, the tournament honored other shooting victims who weren’t as lucky as Allen.

The first year was for DeAndre Knox, who was hit in the head by a stray bullet at only 13 years old and is now a quadriplegic. Last year was for Dijon Anderson, a defensive back for Warren Central (Indianapolis) High School, who was set to play at Southern Illinois University, but passed away from his injuries sustained in a shooting.   

"Unfortunately, it's going to be like an every-year thing,” said Anthony King, the club’s president. “This is a yearly thing, so we're going to be reaching out to whoever was affected by gun violence for one, to put the parents back in front of the news for two, so people can see the affect is deeper than what initially happens that day.”

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