In the Year of Jamboree

Ps 133:1 Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!



"It was amazing Dad. We got to the church and the Carver players were waiting for us out front. They shook our hands and took us to our seats. Our teams were all mixed in together as we ate. These guys were so hilarious, we had so much fun!"

Thus a whole paragraph of words from SteveO, earlier this football season, instead of the usual caveman grunt that his Mama and I hear on a daily basis. I could sense his excitement over an event that would have an impact on many young men’s lives over the course of a week, an event that should have been covered by our local sports page, but they seemed too busy telling us about Terrell Owens or some other earth shattering event in the wide world of sports.

A little background. Simply put, Montgomery is a rather polarized city in many ways. Blacks and whites are generally separated by geography, schools, and churches. We do fellowship around our jobs and find many friendships in work and social settings, however, my city is compartmentalized by the east and the west sides.

My boy attends Trinity Presbyterian School, a private prep school with a strong Christian philosophy. I make no apologies for our choice, although you would not call our student body diverse by any means. Over on the west side is one of four large public high schools in Montgomery, Carver High, a large, urban school that is as black as ours is white. A few years back, Larry Ware, former tailback at the University of Georgia, took over a floundering program and instilled principles of hard work and discipline and turned Carver football around.

Our Coach Ragsdale and Coach Ware began working together a few years back. They developed a pre season football jamboree, since we are different classifications, we don’t play each other in the regular season. The boys get some "real time" football, rookie referees are instructed by the vets, and coaches catch a glimpse of their teams prior to the start of the season. This year’s jamboree involved Trinity, Carver, and Greene County High, another predominantly black school. Each team played the opposing two teams for two quarters, totaling six quarters for the night.

A new wrinkle was added this year between Trinity and Carver, an evening meal sponsored by the Carver family and a local church across the street from their school. The opening quote from SteveO describes the event in part. He further chattered on about a Carver mom who wanted the Trinity boy’s autographs on a napkin, along with their number so she could spot them on Thursday night. SteveO said his teammates made up some silly nicknames beside their real names and kept her in stitches.









Coach Rags and staff have built a perennial football powerhouse with a fairly recent state championship thrown in to boot, but he will not be happy if he reads this story and there is a resume’ of Trinity football accomplishments. I will say that he, our A.D. Coach Tuley, and the whole football coaching staff are Christ centered men who see a much bigger picture for our boys than winning football games. Recently, for example, the offensive line coach had all his boys meet him for Sunday service. I could write an entire blog on things that Coach Rags, Coach Whittle (SteveO’s baseball coach) and others have done behind the scene to build that all important character into our boy’s lives, but I don’t want to suffer the consequences. They are humble servants who are embarrassed by the limelight and I am bordering on a meeting in the parking lot for an attitude adjustment now. Just kidding....I hope.

Back to the Jamboree: Coach Rags, Coach Ware, players, and staffs meet for an opening prayer and it is time for Trinity and Carver to get it on. Hard hitting football, southern style, with opposing players offering a hand after a hard stick. Carver then takes on Greene County for two quarters and Carver is done for the night. We finish the night with Greene County and the two teams assemble at the fifty yard line after the final two quarters. Coach Rags has another captive audience of teenage boys and uses the time wisely to share God’s love. (We do this after every home game, win or lose; we invite the opposing team to the middle of the field for devotion and prayer.)

Suddenly, from the visitor’s stands, the young men from Carver, sans shoulder pads and jerseys, come running. They stayed around for the final two quarters so they could join the group on the field. Three teams joined in unity through the love of football, now joined in devotion and prayer with a coach whose love for Christ is the epicenter of his life.

It happened because coaches from two very different schools decided to do something positive for our city. It happened because of men who see a picture brighter than some dull newsprint snapshot. Beyond the wins and losses on the field, they believe for a colorful landscape portrait, a patchwork of black and white boys, who now covered in dirt, sweat, and grass stains, will grow into young men and be covered in the infectious love of Christ for another generation of gridiron greats.






Mark
Prov 17:22

I dedicate this blog to Coach Sham, (2nd picture of the blog) Stephen's defensive position coach, who lost his Mom this week. Our family loves you Coach, and our prayers are with you.