Being There

If I am honest, I did not want to spend my Saturday hauling twenty students 400 miles round trip to Legion field. I just didn't want to. Most people wouldn't want to, it's not for the faint of heart.

It begins with a 4 am alarm. That's almost a full three hours before first light. That's early, it boarders on still being yesterday for goodness sake and makes you question your dedication, your commitment, your sanity.

You wonder; who else does this for free?

You claw your way out of your warm bed and begin to pull on the clothes that you laid out the night before, muttering to yourself just loud enough for your wife to hear. She's up and moving as well, just another innocent victim of your purpose. She reminds you that there are people counting on you but you don't want to hear it. You want to go back to bed. You want to sleep in like normal people do. Sadly, normal has never been your thing.

An hour later you and your group are now standing in the high school parking lot, an empty high school parking lot and for a moment you are sure that NO ONE ELSE is coming. The little voice inside your head begins to grumble as you imagine all of those ungrateful little brats rolling over and drifting back to sleep. They have no idea how much you give, how much you sacrifice, how difficult it is to keep doing the right thing. Teenagers! In the middle of your imaginary rant a truck turns into the parking lot and slowly rolls your way. Then another and finally a passenger van. The once dark, quiet parking lot begins to bustle with noise and even energy as one student after another emerges out of their vehicles.

Something has motivated a group of teenagers to get out of bed on a Saturday morning before sunrise and take a three hour drive, one way, to play football. They will make this pilgrimage even though there will be no actual game, no Friday night lights, no girlfriends or parents in the stands. It's just them investing in their future. As an adult you know that for most of these students there really isn't a future in sports beyond high school, but the characteristics that they are developing by just being here are far more important than playing football. This is when it occurs to you that this, whatever this is, is not only important it is necessary to helping these young men prepare for life.

However, nothing ever goes to plan and it becomes evident fairly quickly that the 15 passenger van is woefully inadequate to accommodate the 23 people now milling around the parking lot. It's time to dig a little deeper. In order to have enough transportation for everyone, we pack the van to capacity, seat five in my car, and requisition the truck of one of the players.

Now two things have to happen, my fellow coach and I must dig into our wallets for the extra money to cover gas for the truck and I have to inform my unsuspecting wife that she has been enlisted to chauffeur four kids on a trek across the great state of Alabama.

Both are painful.

The ride up is filled with endless speculation about what will happen at the camp and how well they will or won't perform. One young man explains to us that this is the furthest he has ever been away from his family. You can tell that he is nervous to be so far away from home and you smile at his innocence. You are reminded that for many the world is still a strange and worrisome place and how small their world truly is. Most of our kids have lived their lives in what equates to a fish bowl. They go to school, to the IGA, to the ballpark and every now and again to Andalusia to pick something up from Walmart. For them, their are still places on the map that have yet to be explored and they wonder if it is safe.

As we walk into Legion Field one of our fellow travelers scans to old bleachers in amazement. "This is what college players see every Saturday," he proclaims in wonder. He's watched it on tv but tv doesn't quite do it justice. There is something to be said about 'going' and 'being' somewhere that births a greater expectation in the hearts and minds of people. Going makes things real, it makes things possible.

A shared journey also bonds those who share the experience. It tears down walls and builds bridges because it provides a common experience, creating equity among the participants. One afternoon of football in July can lay the foundation for a season of football in the fall. This was evident as my wife and I sat in the stands and watched our kids root for one another. There were players from so many different high schools, but for our kids it was all about the "O". They believed that their teammates were the best of the best and when one competed they competed not just for themselves but for the pride of the team, for each other. It was them against world. They were Opp and that was important to them.

At the end of the day, each kid worked hard and performed well. More importantly, our

players were respectful and kind to each other and to every one they encountered. You could not have asked for a better behaved group of young men.

Cole Jennings was named All-Leadership First Team and Gray Jennings collected the Camp MVP Award with the help of his Opp wide receivers. Gray, Dada Stoudemire, JaKayne Mount, and Zach Hill made up the winning team for the 7on7 portion of the event. Plus, Opp brought home a check for $500 for having the most athletes attend the camp!

You can never really describe the excitement kids feel when given the opportunity to pose with an oversized check that they earned, even if it is for the school fund. Our kids are working on coming together as a team, and what a team it is going to be! So was giving up a Saturday really worth it? Absolutley!