On the field, Avery football players battle tooth-and-nail each Friday night, striving to dominate and demolish the competition and succeed on the gridiron.
Off the field, however, Avery’s football players and coaches are working just as hard to serve fellow students and share part of their time and lives with youngsters of Avery County Schools.
Last week, the Avery Vikings showed up at each of the county elementary and middle schools to assist in a variety of activities, whether it involved sharing time to make the day of a young student in an elementary school cafeteria, opening doors for commuting parents bringing their children to their early-morning drop-off locations, or sharing with students about the high school student-athlete experience and discussing how their own formative years in elementary or middle school helped them along their educational and athletic paths.
Avery Vikings head coach Jason Phelps continues to seek ways to connect his team to the community at large, which in turn helps the community see the hearts of the players whose faces are often hidden behind face masks and helmets.
“It’s something that I’ve done at previous schools I’ve been at with the varsity kids and program in general. It did a lot in the past for the boys, being able to help out in the community and see those younger kids who look up to them,” Phelps explained. “The younger students can see these high school players as more than just a football player. They can see them as someone who cares about them, as someone who wants to help them; that they are a real person and not just someone wearing a uniform on a Friday night.”
According to Phelps, players spending time in service goes deeper than a “feel-good” experience. It helps those who participate to take ownership in acts that benefit others and helps individuals, while putting the needs of others before themselves, a trait that often translates well onto the football field. It also allowed for many players to return to schools they formerly attended, having the ability to pass along words of wisdom or inspiration to youngsters who are following in their proverbial footsteps through the school’s hallways and classrooms.
“The program is a great way for our kids to give back to where they got their start,” Phelps added. “Going to help schools that they went to, and being able to walk the halls and understand where they got their start helps the smaller kids in the schools and community to see what the older students have done and hot they got their start, and help them to dream that they can be successful when they are older.”
High school students often scoff or balk at the notion of doing a project outside of the classroom dynamic, but Phelps shared that his players did anything but rebuff the idea once they experienced it.
“Our players came back and told us it was a great experience and that they wanted to go back and do it again,” Phelps said. “Not only working with the kids, but getting to see their former teachers and taking a stroll down memory lane, many in schools they themselves attended, was significant to them.”
One such instance occurred at Newland Elementary School, where a number of current players returned to see their names still etched in the gym from their time taking physical education years ago.
“When I went to Newland Elementary, Coach Ward had pointed out some of my football players still had some of his fitness records in the gym, and the kids got to see that and the younger students were able to see who those names were, and put faces to names they saw in class every day,” Phelps said.
Not only were the football players and younger students positively impacted by the interaction and special visit, but teachers and administrators were greatly impressed by the actions of the players and their willingness to connect with the younger generation of schoolchildren.
“All the principals were really excited when I informed them, as we had to have permission from each of them for this to happen,” Phelps added. “They were excited to do it, and Dr. (David) Burleson was excited about it. From the responses I’ve heard, the administrators were really glad to have them come to their school. The teachers expressed how much they appreciated it, and how much it meant to both their students and to our players, too.”
Given the success of the day of giving back, the football team has plans to expand the program in some greater fashion in the near future.
“Definitely. I’d like to do it for all our home games. We hoped to start it earlier, but my family and I have been dealing with some personal matters with my father’s cancer,” Phelps shared. “Dealing with things off the field has been hard and has kept me from being able to expand the idea more often this season, but we hope to get our kids out in the community making a difference more often in the future.”
Source: http://www.averyjournal.com/avery/avery-football-players-return-to-local-schools-in-giving-back/article_4f97be52-778a-57f6-9a3b-88c499478e19.html
