Former professional wrestler promotes new Teen Skate Club

pressreporter@thefranklinpress.com

Former professional wrestler and new Franklin resident Bobby Horne Sr. knows firsthand about the dangers and temptations that confront young people.

Photo/Provided Bobby Horne Sr. of Franklin talks with students during a speaking engagement. The former professional wrestler has helped start a skateboarding club in Franklin.

He also understands what it's like to overcome this adversity and escape a bad situation to lead a productive, positive life.

Horne grew up in a housing project in Mooresville (a suburb of Charlotte), with no father and a mother who was a drug addict, where he was frequently exposed to drugs, alcohol and violence.

Yet he still managed to make it through high school and go to college. He left college and followed this with a stint in the military, before beginning training to become a professional wrestler.

Horne (a.k.a "Sir Mo"), was part of a tag team called "Men on a Mission," and spent time in what is now the WWE (Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment, formerly the Worldwide Wrestling Federation) and 20 years overall in professional wrestling. He competed against such superstars as "The Undertaker," "Sting," "Macho Man Randy Savage," and Shawn Michaels.

He and his partner ("King Mabel") were even tag team champions in March 1994 after winning a bout in London over "The Quebecers."

Horne, 41, moved to Franklin four months ago and now works as a residential counselor for juveniles at the Multipurpose Juvenile Group Home on Lakeside Drive, which reopened in May 2008.

The man formerly known as "Sir Mo" hopes that he can reach others with a positive message and give young people things to do to stay off the street. Horne started and is the director of the nonprofit organization Main (My Answer is No) Foundation, that focuses on promoting recreational competition to teens, with skateboarding, mixed martial arts, karate and wrestling offering an alternative to drugs and violence.

He also has been traveling the country for the past 15 years as a motivational speaker talking with various schools and civic groups about drug abuse and teen violence in school. Horne promotes live sporting events such as wrestling, mixed martial arts, boxing and skateboarding competitions to fund his travels.

Working with a group of local skateboarders, his Main Foundation has formed a teen skateboarding club in Franklin (40 kids have signed up for the club already according to Horne), with the goal of raising money to put in an indoor skateboarding facility for area youth.

Horne has located a potential spot for the skate club, a 6,500 square-foot warehouse on Depot Street, and must raise money to buy it and to get the necessary funds for purchasing the equipment, such as ramps, half-pipes, etc. "For these kids to have somewhere to go in the afternoons," Horne said.

When it opens, Horne envisions the club being open Monday-Friday during after school hours. There will be a one-year membership fee of $20, after payment of which teens can skate for free at the club all year long.

Horne's Main Foundation Skate Club will host a fundraising event called "F-Games 2008" at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 13, at (what he hopes will eventually house) the new Teen Skate Club in Franklin on 471 Depot Street. It will feature a skateboard demo from some members of the skateboarding club, a mixed martial arts exhibition by Danny Antoine's Karate Academy students and live wrestling matches.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, and advanced tickets will be available at Tastinger's Floor Coverings and Big Mama's Pizza.

Horne explained why he is trying to launch a teen skate club and facility here. "I like Franklin, it's a small town, but there's absolutely nothing for the kids to do here," Horne said.

He said that while there is "The Fun Factory," aside from bowling and laser tag it is oriented more towards elementary and middle school-aged students than high school kids.

"There's just nothing here for teenagers to do unless they want to drive to Asheville or Atlanta," said, Horne, adding that the lack of recreational activities creates an environment where high schoolers may turn towards alcohol or drugs as their main source of entertainment.

He said there are other good things happening, such as the Thursday skate boarding night called "The Walk" hosted by a local church, and the youth center being built across from the high school, but the pickings are slim.

Horne hopes "F-Games" will become an annual event and that future funds raised will allow the skate club to compete in skateboarding events. If the Main Foundation Skate Club does get off the ground, Horne said that his friend Willie Parker, the starting running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and some of his former wrestling buddies will try to get involved in future fundraising events.

"We're just trying to raise the money to get it going," Horne said. "It doesn't take a lot for what we are trying to do. I want to get the community behind it," Horne said.

Horne said that finding a recreational sporting outlet such as wrestling helped keep him off the streets and away from using or selling drugs.

"If it hadn't been for pro wrestling I don't know where I would have ended up - because I was hanging out on the streets with my buddies," Horne said.

Horne said that sometimes people demonize skaters in the community, and he expressed hope that this would not be the case for the new Teen Skate Club.

"The one thing I do want is for the people in this community not to look down on the skaters as a bunch of bad apples," Horne said.

He added that in sitting down and speaking with local skateboarders, you will find that most of them are bright, good-natured kids.

'For the most part, these kids - all they want to do is skate," Horne said. "And if you give them a place to do that, then you don't have to worry about them busting up concrete sidewalks, skating on people's fences and rails and disturbing businesses.

"I just want the community to know this is a nonprofit thing. It's for the kids, it will be run by the kids, with some concerned parents overseeeing."

Of the Main Foundation's mission, Horne said, "Everything that we do is geared up to make sure that teens have every opportunity from a physical standpoint and a social standpoint of being positive and productive in the community."

For more information or to donate to the Teen Skate Club, call Bobby Horne Sr., at 731-589-2995.