Snipes finding shelter at Rainier Beach

There were plenty of days when Attrail Snipes wondered where he would sleep next. There were plenty more when Snipes pondered his next meal. There was no electricity. No running water. No telephone.

Living alone as a teenager, there was very little spark in Snipes' life. He kept his pride and never mentioned anything about living alone in Section 8 housing on Rainier Avenue South. He was tight-lipped for more than a year about his plight as a teenager fending for himself. No wonder his grades suffered. No one could fault him for putting survival first.

When the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association granted Snipes a fifth year of eligibility for football this fall, it gave the 19-year-old a second chance and a second senior season at Rainier Beach High School.

Don't be surprised to see the electric, 5-foot-10, 170-pound Snipes playing college football next season. But first, the speedy wide receiver must lead 10th-ranked Rainier Beach (10-1) against No. 6 Prosser (12-1) in the Class 3A state semifinals at Pasco's Edgar Brown Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m.

"It was tough not knowing where your next meal was going to come from," said the quiet Snipes, who leads the Vikings with 19 touchdowns and 43 catches for 1,015 yards, 23.6 yards per grab. "It was hard."

After moving 37 times, bouncing from relatives to homeless shelters, Snipes finally felt at home when he moved to the Seattle area as a freshman with his mother, Desiree Nickleberry, and younger sister, 12-year-old Viedeysha.

But calling someplace home was short-lived.

When his mother and sister returned to Fairfield, Calif., to live with Nickleberry's mother two years later, Attrail believed he must stay to claim his future. Going back to California would only keep him from his goals of attending class, getting good grades and earning a college football scholarship.

"It would be easier to succeed out here," said Snipes, whose mother sent money before he was helped by Rainier Beach teammates, classmates and coaches. "I didn't want to go back to that environment. People I knew there were gang-banging and skipping school."

Snipes already knew about missing school from his freshman year in Vallejo, Calif., and in the Seattle area. He enrolled at Auburn High School, but his family soon had to move to a shelter in Kent. Snipes spent most of his freshman year caring for his mother, who was ill with diabetes, and picking his sister up from school.

When money sent by his mother wasn't enough,coaches and teammates at Rainier Beach intervened, taking Snipes to the store for bare essentials and giving him some spending money.

"They told me they wanted nothing in return, except if someone else was ever in need that I help them out later on," says Snipes, who believes coaches and teammates saved his life.

He won a 3A state track title in the 400 meters last spring, but at one point, he gladly would have traded it for a bite of food. That's when Beach football coach Mark Haley, assistant Darren Witcher and school athletic director Dan Jurdy intervened again.

"That showed me that I wasn't here by myself," Snipes said.

Snipes moved in with Beach center Mychal Lawson's family in late August, the 40th move of his young life. Trust was hard for Snipes, who had seen other family members steal from his mother.

"Moving around so much, I thought life was about having money," Snipes said. "That was basically our main struggle when we came here. But I learned it's about making good choices. And not to be scared about asking for help. I've learned about respecting people and not making fun of unfortunate people."

Snipes got his first taste of organized sports when he tried out for football as a sophomore.

"Before my sophomore year, all I'd played was street football," said Snipes, who has attracted interest from Hawaii, Oregon State, Oregon, Washington, Washington State and Boise State. "I'm still picking the game up, but I pick things up fast."

Snipes, named Offensive MVP in the Metro League Sound Division this season, has gone from barely attending class as a freshman to earning five As and a B this quarter for a 3.83 grade-point average.

Snipes began training two summers ago with Beach's offensive coordinator, Eric Metcalf, who made the NFL's Pro Bowl twice as a return specialist in 11 seasons in the NFL.

"Eric told me I can go to any school I want," said Snipes, who has run 40 yards in 4.39 seconds. "When I first started playing football, I wasn't looking toward college."

Said Haley, "He's going to play somewhere in college, whether it's a JC first and a four-year institution later. The game comes natural to him. Some people recognize him as a track guy playing football, but I think he's a football guy who runs track. He has that football instinct."

Haley believes Snipes is more self-assured since learning that people outside his family genuinely care about him.

"Just knowing he'll have a roof over his head and that meals are coming in, that means a lot to a kid," Haley said. "That's a lot of stress on you. He used to be so closed.

"He's still quiet, but he's learned to open up. Now, he talks to teammates and coaches."

A trip to the Union Gospel Mission in Seattle two years ago helped Snipes realize he wasn't alone.

"I wasn't the only one struggling," he said.

Snipes, who punts and returns kicks and punts, has helped Beach football to the brink of making history. A victory Saturday would mean the first trip to the football finals in the Rainier Valley school's 46 years. It's just one way Snipes hopes to give back to his coaches and teammates.