BRIGHTON, Mich. — Back in the summer of 2018, Michigan running back Chris Evans had debuted his newfound passion, CE Stars, a 7-on-7 youth team that he had put together after he scoured Michigan — nearly the whole state — for talent that could be cultivated.
It was a huge endeavor, especially for a college football player about to enter his third year in Ann Arbor.
They took the field late at the SoundMind SoundBody camp with recently offered 2023 quarterback Dante Moore, who was just entering his final year of middle school. And they put on a show.
Weeks later, in Wyandotte, he invited groups from around the country to play against his group of selected talent — not just good players, but players who wanted to work and get better. With former Michigan pass game coordinator Pep Hamilton’s son leading the way at quarterback for one of his under-12 teams, Evans worked closely with the then-Wolverines staffer, as well as fellow RB Karan Higdon.
A few short months later, a fledgling operation started to look more and more like a behemoth.
With teams in Indianapolis and southeast Michigan, Evans hosted his own CE Stars 7-on-7 tournament in Waterford in January 2019, with teams coming from all over the country. What was once just a handful of teams participating blossomed into an all-day, full on showcase of young talent. Present even was Michigan State offensive coordinator Brad Salem, whose son was one of many partaking.
Evans’ once fledgling desire to coach and build something was on full display of dreams turning into reality. Now, he has hundreds of kids under his tutelage, following his mindset of being a hard-worker while getting better step-by-step at football.
“We start down at 6 year-olds, we go 7-8-9, then we go 11-12-14-15-high school,” Evans told WolverinesWire at the R1SE Midwest Showcase, where he had multiple teams participating in 7-on-7 competitions, in 24 games in total. “We got over 320 kids in our program from Indiana to Michigan. That’s what we do, we just keep striving, just trust the process. They start when they young and they go all the way through the program.”
One of the CE Stars 7-on-7 teams poses after playing three-straight games on Saturday.
Evans himself has had a tough road, having to endure a one-year suspension from the University of Michigan and the football program he was determined to return to.
He’s now made all of his amends, having returned to campus and the team this month. But while the road back to Ann Arbor was a challenge all its own, more impressive is what Evans has built in the interim — especially considering the humbling beginnings of his idea-turned-reality.
Now he has a machine, which suits him well given that he has both academics and football to work on, again, himself. What he’s made is bigger than him, and he’s surrounded himself with plenty of football minds and other creative talent to help him along the way. That includes former Michigan CB Raymon Taylor, who’s the defensive coordinator for one of his teams.
“When I first had been with it, it was a lot hands-on,” Evans said. “Now I’ve got a great group of coaches and communication directors and music directors. I’ve got a great group on board. Sometimes all I gotta do is show up and motivate the kids, get the kids hype. Because last year, I was picking kids up, running here, running there. It took a lot of time away from me. Gives me a chance to just check everything out, make sure everything is running smooth.”
CE Stars is a non-profit organization, with, as mentioned on its website, takes a holistic approach to youth development by using sports to engage the Mental, Physical, Spiritual aspects of life while focusing on the person before the performer. Our staff will leverage their own on-field and professional experiences to ensure your student athlete is COLLECTIVELY EVOLVING.
The various teams are continuing to play on Sunday at the R1SE Midwest Showcase at Legacy Center Sports Complex in Brighton, playing against teams from all over the country