Reunited (And It Feels So Good)

(OK, how many of saw the title of this post, and are now singing with Peaches & Herb in your head? Or out loud? You’re welcome.)

Last month I was having lunch in the local elementary school, and I was sitting with a school staff member and with a mom who helped lead this year’s spring break camp. The mom was telling the other person about when she volunteered at the camp in 2013.

She explained,

“I was touched by the spirit of love that was in that place. Those volunteers from Greenville, they showed so much love that it filled the air. I know that all Christians should love others, but I’ve never seen it like that.”

Did you catch what she said, or what she didn’t say? Not once did she mention how much better the campers got at soccer, or how great of a job I did leading the camp. (That’s OK. Really. Sniff.)

What encouraged and inspired her was the love shown by the families and teenagers from Grace Church (Greenville, SC).

Beyond the Camp  

We have loved being a part of the Spring Break Camps, but it’s not because we really care about teaching kids soccer, or doing arts and crafts, or playing games. Those were fun bonuses, but not the goal.

What we’ve loved seeing are the relationships that form. The relationships between two moms. The relationships between young boys. And the relationships between teenage guys.

10 Pictures from Elevate Camp

As you may know, we had our 3rd annual Elevate Spring Break Camp last week. I’ll write more in the future, but I at least wanted to give you 10 representative photos from the week.

Besides a little bit of bad weather (rainy 1 day, and cold for 1.5 days) and a bit of illness (including an apparent stomach virus in our family), it was a great week. We averaged about 55 kids per day, plus a dozen teenagers, plus another dozen adults. It was a great week of physical activity, fun games, arts, team-building, and more!

We are thankful for the adults, teens, and children who participated in this camp, and for the financial and other resources that were donated.

Enjoying the great weather on day 1

The 5th-8th grade girls group had perfect attendance!

Drive, Recognize, Pursue

The following football play occurred in September 2012, but it was so amazing, I remember it like it was yesterday. If you’re a football fan, you’ll enjoy this description. If not, hang with me, and I’ll tie it all back in.

The ball was snapped. Immediately the nose tackle (on defense, for your non-football folks) engaged the center (an offensive lineman) and drove him back two yards into the backfield. The quarterback handed the ball to the running back, who ran towards the sideline, trying to elude the defense.

The nose tackle recognized the play, and reacted. He disengaged from the offensive lineman who was (unsuccessfully) trying to block him, and ran towards the running back. He chased him down, and tackled him for a one-yard gain.

Do you see how amazing this play was? This player was strong enough to drive back another lineman two full yards, smart enough to recognize the play, and then fast enough to pursue (and catch) the ball carrier.

Drive. Recognize. Pursue. And this guy has been living like this for longer than I’ve known him.

Elevate Spring Break Camp, Round 3

Every week since August, as I volunteer in the schools and eat lunch with students, students have been asking me, “When are we going to do that camp again?”

They might be referring to any number of camps that we were able to be involved with — including a summer STEM camp with my work, or my wife helping with arts and crafts during summer school.

But for many students, they are talking about one of the Spring Break Soccer Camps that we’ve been able to organize. And we’re happy to be able to help bring it back for the third straight year.

Thankful: The Best 2 Years of My Life

I posted this on Facebook last weekend, but I wanted to capture my words on this blog. Mostly for my sake, not yours. Maybe it’s because I want to make sure I have a permanent home for these words, or maybe it’s because I still need to process my feelings. (Honestly, I didn’t expect the end of the season to hit me so hard.) Maybe it’s both of these reasons, and more. But I posted them today since I don’t figure I’ll get much blog traffic. That’s fine, because if you left a comment, it’ll probably just make me cry all over again. So actually I am thankful whether or not you leave a comment.

Several of you have been asking about an update on last night’s game, since I didn’t post it as I usually do. As many of you have figured out, we lost in the Lower State Championship game. I was not ready to share that information last night, but here are my thoughts….

We are sad, and hurt. I am hurt, especially for the seniors and especially for the ones that I got to coach every day. I hope they can reflect on the fact that so FEW people, even so few high school football players, will ever play in a state semifinal game. I hope they can reflect on their successes & hold their heads high.

As for me, mostly because of coaching football, the past 2 years could be the BEST 2 years of my life. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I wouldn’t trade the relationships which God has brought about.

3 Things I’m Known For

See me photo-bombing?

On the football team, there are three things I’m known for:

1. Being white (I can’t help it)
2. Saying stupid things, especially when I get angry (“For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”)
3. Being energetic.

The guys I coach laugh at me when I run around and demonstrate the drills. I teach and I show them, over and over. “Coach, why do you do that?”

Good question. Maybe it’s because . . .

• I’d love to be on the field again (though my joints groan at the thought).
• I’m a perfectionist who demands that things are done in a certain way. MY way.
• I want to make sure I’m doing my part to get the team as prepared as I can. I would hate to let them down.

Maybe it’s all of the above.

Regardless, I’m thankful for a chance to coach these young men for at least one more week. With another playoff win last Friday (for our last home game), we travel to Carvers Bay High School this Friday night. The winner will be Lower State Champions, and will compete for the State Championship on Saturday, November 30.

Go Tigers!

Related Links:

• Allendale-Fairfax High School Tigers:  2013 Football Schedule
• Mid-Season Update: Football and the Gospel
• Friday Night Lights . . . Are Off

A Special Thanks

Dr. Roger Nunn is the only doctor who lives and works in Allendale. Not only does he take care of many citizens here (including me and my family), he also volunteers his time in a number of areas:

• I’ve seen him doing yard work for various neighbors, even cutting my front lawn on his riding mower.
• He sings in the church choir and serves as a deacon.
• He leads the local Kairos Prison Ministry, and convinced me to be involved there.

And if that wasn’t enough, he also has been volunteering as the football team doctor since the middle of last season. He has come to every game, including taking long road trips after a full day of work, and even skipping an anniversary date to make a game (I’m sure Ms. Nunn was ok with that, right?)

Our head coach has been wanting to show his appreciate for Dr. Nunn’s selfless service. Last week, during our first-round playoff game, Dr. Nunn was presented with a game ball that was signed by Coach Ford and the football team. Before giving him this award, the announcer read these words of thanks:

The Seeds of Partnership

This past summer, we helped the Recreation Department with a week-long camp. It was the second summer in a row that we led the Soccer and Arts & Crafts camp, held at Fairfax Elementary School.

We don’t know much about soccer (even though we’ve done two years of Spring Break Soccer Camps), but we love kids, and we love to support other programs in Allendale.

As a part of this camp, we worked with the local Clemson Extension office, to do “Seed Art” as part of the craft time. Seed art is a 4H program, where you use various seeds to create artwork. The artwork from this area can then be entered in the Orangeburg County Fair. (You may remember that we did this a couple of years ago.)

Mid-Season Update: Football and the Gospel

With this bye week, we have a much-needed break tonight. Everyone (coaches and players alike) will get some rest and time with our families. Plus, this week gives us a good opportunity to get healed from some early season injuries, including broken toes, dislocated fingers, strained ligaments, and more. You know, the usual.

Mammas, don’t let your babies . . . .

Our record is now 4-2 (2-0 in our region), and we are scoring over 40 points per game! Both of our losses came by a total of nine points and against bigger schools. I’m not using our smaller school size as an excuse; in one of those losses we had 65 missed tackles, and in the other we had 5 turnovers. We had chances to win, and gave them away.

As Henry Ford said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail.”  That is one of the many Life Lessons we are trying to teach these forty young men.

Because one day the game will be gone…

This story touched me, because I’ve been thinking about how sports can be an avenue to reach the minds and hearts of young men. Remember these posts? …

• Life Lessons Through Football
• Allendale-Fairfax High School Tigers: Football Season Has Begun! (2012)

A Dangerous Question

“Because one day you are going to be removed from this game and you are going to be somebody’s husband, somebody’s father and if you quit on wind sprints, If you quit on 3^rd and 2, imagine what you are going to do in life when it gets tough when it gets real and you have your daughter, your wife, and your son looking to you for help.”

If you don’t have 5 minutes to watch the whole talk – at least click here to see the meat of the message.

If you don’t know the Inky Johnson story check out this 5 minute video:

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