Rockwall & Heath Lead the Way for Lake Ray Hubbard Football League

(ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX – Sept. 1, 2016) Rockwall and Heath have joined forces, this year, to pave the way for the newly formed Lake Ray Hubbard Football (LRHF) league that includes the nearby communities of Rowlett, Sunnyvale, Terrell, Heath and Rockwall. In its inaugural year, the LRHF brings over 600 football players and cheer participants from the surrounding communities.

Rockwall Youth Community Athletics (RYCA) and Heath Hawks Youth Sports (HHYS) organizations combined, bring 24 teams from Kinder through 6^th grade into the LRHF. The RYCA also includes a Rockwall cheer program that brings 7 Jacket squads and over 100 cheerleaders into the league.

LRHF kicks off its season this Saturday, September 3rd with games at Terrell’s Memorial Stadium and Sunnyvale’s Raider Stadium. Each weekend, games will be played at two stadiums from the league consisting of Heath High School, Rockwall’s Kyle Field, Rowlett High School, Sunnyvale and Terrell.

League teams will also play at SMU’s Ford field on October 15^th, with a playoff taking place following the 8 game season ending with a super bowl at Wilkerson Sanders High School Stadium.

USA Football (www.USAFootball.com) has certified the league, where each player, coach and assistant coach are certified through weigh-in and age verification, as well as heads up training programs and background checks, to ensure that safety and the well-being of the players is the #1 priority.

The LRHF held a season kick-off party at the Oasis Beach & Tennis Club, in Rockwall, where it distributed uniforms and facilitated a community atmosphere between member cities, teams and players. A great time was had by all!

“We are looking forward to starting our 2016 season, while providing a game day experience that is fun for all, energetic and safe for our children,” said Brandon Neighbors, RYCA Board Member.  “This weekend we got to see the excitement in the eyes of our players, as they received their uniforms on Saturday and then suited up to take photos at Harry Meyers Park on Sunday.”

Cody Vardeman, HHYS Board Member continued, “With the formation of the Lake Ray Hubbard Football, we offer the only ‘Grade-Pure’ playing environment in the area. In an effort to put the well-being of the players first, we will play against teams that are certified by USA Football to be the same grade and age as our players.”

With the commitment and continued participation of these great organizations and communities the Lake Ray Hubbard Football organization is dedicated to the betterment of our communities, its families and athletes. We look forward to an exciting and fun-filled 2016 season!

For more information about RYCA / HHYS football and game schedules go to www.rycayouthsports.com.

 Submitted press release by Joe Roland.

Getting Ready for Middle School Football

Brandon Neighbors and USA Football Heads-Up Certified coaches of the Rockwall Youth Football Organization (RYCA) are hosting 6 football specific classes for incoming 7th and 8th graders at Williams Middle School starting Tuesdays and Thursday evenings August 4th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at Williams Middle School.

Neighbors has been a coach of multiple sports for over 8 years (also has a son entering 7th grade at Williams Middle School), and has run speed, strength and agility programs for three different high schools.  There will be 6 football specific classes preparing the boys for the upcoming season by working on footwork, agility, speed and basic football fundamentals.  This is absolutely free as Neighbors is a Rockwall resident and wants to continue to give back to the community as well as helping make the Middle School program even more competitive for the upcoming season.

All experience levels are invited.  For more information contact Brandon Neighbors at 972.922.6202 or email him at Brandon.neighbors@me.com.

What does Failure have to do with Success

Recently a picture circulated across Facebook with a young player asking another player if that was their dad yelling at them in the stands.  The player being yelled at replied, “Yeah, he thinks I will be turning pro next week.”

It is a funny caption that makes all of us look in the mirror and question our enthusiasm for our child performing at a high level.  Now there are many blogs that have been published making parents and fans look quite foolish by yelling and screaming in the stands.  Therefore, this blog will stay away from further admonishment of questionable motivational techniques from parents or coaches of youth sports.  As a matter of fact, the writer of this blog has several stories that many of the readers can recite and thankfully no YouTube videos have surfaced to back those stories up.  Just funny memories that are brought up in my personal running circles.

Rather this blog will focus on a different perspective comparing success with failure.

We have all heard many quotes such as Colin Powell’s words of wisdom, “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty and persistence.”  Bill Gates said, “Its fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” 

However, Wilma Rudolph stated, “Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose.  Nobody goes undefeated all the time.  If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.”

Wilma Rudolph knew her fair share of failures.  She was born prematurely in 1940 at a whopping 4.5 pounds.  She was the 20th sibling of 22 from two marriages.  Her father was a railway porter and mother a maid.  At age four she contracted infantile paralysis caused by the polio virus.  Now, she recovered but wore a brace on her left leg and foot which had become twisted as result until she was nine.  In addition to spending a lot of time until she was twelve traveling to and from the hospital she also survived bouts of polio and scarlet fever.

Now the reason we know the story of Wilma Rudolph is that she competed in two Olympic Games in 1956 and 1960.  She was considered the fastest woman in the world in the 1960’s and in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Game.

Failures are part of life.  It’s how we react to those failures that determines how history will remember us.  Take for example these following facts:

• Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan walked more hitters than any other pitcher in Major League history.
• “Mr. October” and Hall of Famer, Reggie Jackson struck out more times than any other batter.
• Los Angeles Lakers NBA star Kobe Bryant has missed more shots in basketball than anyone in history.
• NFL legendary quarterback, Brett Favre has thrown more interceptions than any other NFL quarterback in history.

Today, my son competes for playing time at his middle school.  I am no longer in charge of his playing time or determines who he takes the field or court with.  I have to hope he remembers the lessons he has learned through successes and failures of the past.  Hopefully, the decisions he makes today will help him be rewarded tomorrow.  However, when situations (whether it be in life, business or sports) don’t turn out the way he plans; maybe he can look at some legends of our past and know that everyone experiences failure.  It’s how we react to adversity that will determine our next success in life.

This blog is dedicated to all of the coaches, parents and fans of RYCA Rockwall Football.  The RYCA youth football program guides hundreds of players a year preparing and developing them for challenges that will present to them.  The picture above is from the 2013 6th grade Nebbie Williams RYCA Jacket Football team.  Each of the boys in the picture have now entered 7th grade and competing in academics, sports and other activities the Rockwall Independent School District has to offer.  Be sure to “Like” the RYCA Jackets Football page to stay up to date on all Jacket news as the Rockwall Jacket Family cheers on the District Champion Rockwall Yellowjackets Varsity High School Program entering the playoffs with an undefeated record.

Team Travis Sissel Texas Hold Em’ Tournament

Date & Place: Saturday September 27 @ Rockwall Rotary Club

Time: Registration begins at 5:00pm and tournament will begin at 6:00

Cost: $60 Buy-In includes food and snacks –(BYOB)

Unlimited $25rebuys for the first 2hours ---$25 add on at the end of 2 hours

$10 Raffle tickets (golf, restaurants, tickets, etc…)

Proceeds: 50% of proceeds will help with Travis Sissel’s medical expenses. ------50% of $ will pay the Final Table

 Seats Available!!! RSVP Now

Call Henry Young  @ 214-771-3545  cell 469-644-4600 or email hiyret@att.net

Travis’ Story

Travis Sissel is 26 years old and has stage 3 testicular cancer. Upon diagnosis in November 2013, the cancer was said to be in just one testicle. However Travis's condition continued to worsen. He lost 40 lbs in the next two weeks and we subsequently found out it had spread to his lungs, liver, lymph nodes, stomach, and brain.  Travis doesn't have health insurance and Medicaid cut him in April.  Travis is currently being treated at MD Anderson in Houston and currently going through the most intense treatment, a stem cell transplant. 

Please come support Travis and his family for a great night of fellowship, food, and fun.

RSVP to ensure your seat. Feel free to invite  your friends. Our goal is to reach maximum capacity of 100 players.

Chris Warren supports Rockwall Youth Football

Rockwall high school varsity running back and blue chip recruit Chris Warren takes some time to share words of wisdom with RYCA Jackets, Rockwall’s premier youth football league.  The younger Chris Warren is the son of former NFL standout Chris Warren.  The senior has tweeted that he is looking to potentially attend Texas Tech, Texas, Stanford, Oregon, Iowa and Washington (in no particular order).  The 6’ 2”, 232-punder is ranked number 136 overall nationally and number 11 athlete in the country.  He rushed for 747 yards and 11 touchdowns last fall at 6.9 yards per carry before being injured.  This year, Youth Jacket Football Players will get to see #25 running up and down the field for Rockwall High School as they play in the largest UIL Class 6A division.

Warren took time out of his workout schedule to spend some time with the RYCA Jackets.  The Rockwall Youth Community Athletics (RYCA) Jackets are proud to be a part of the Rockwall County Community as a premier youth sports program.  The RYCA has a strong commitment to principles and strives to be a community-driven organization with the genuine participation of athletes, volunteers, parents, family members, teachers, school administrators and local businesses.  The RYCA family is encouraged to attend community and district events and to always support the community displaying Jacket Pride.

The organization is devoted to inspiriting young athletes (kindergarten through 6th grade) giving them the challenge of competition, joy of victory, reality of defeat, importance of commitment and spirit in the community.  These values and virtues are important to athletes’ growth and to them becoming active members of the community and society.

This weekend, the RYCA Youth Football Organization hosted the annual, Battle of the Rock tournament where 17 youth football teams participated.  Teams were from Mesquite, Dallas, Melissa, Heath, and Rockwall.  Currently, the RYCA Jackets are one of the largest youth football programs in North Texas with 193 kids in the program learning and running the same plays as Rockwall High School Varsity Football team.

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Opening Ceremonies! Rockwall Yellowjackets 11U had two wins!

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RYCA Youth Sports now has a qr code to link directly to our website. Give it a try here.