Hats off to the Coaches who volunteer their Time for Rockwall Jackets Youth Football

The true story goes like this.

Five year old son tapping on his father’s shoulder while the father is signing up his kid to play, and accepting the responsibility of coaching his son and whoever is put on the team his son would be playing for.  “Daddy, I don’t know if I will be a very good player for you” as the first grader prepares his father/coach for what could be a disappointing season.  The dad seeing the anxiety on his young son’s face and worry in his eyes responds, “Well son, I don’t know if I am a very good coach either, but we are in this together and we will both do our very best.”  With that, a youth coaching opportunity was born and a strong bond was developed between father and son.  They experienced wins, losses, triumphs and challenges over the next six years.  However, more importantly; they had the opportunity to build life lessons and memories that will be able to be passed on for generations to come.

 Most youth coaches today stopped playing competitive sports in high school.  Some never experienced playing any type of varsity athletics, and some had limited success in college athletics.  Very few youth coaches created a big name at a high level, and decided to pass that experience on to today’s youth for free.  Most youth coaches today are fathers (or mothers) of a player, and almost all of the youth coaches have full-time jobs.

Coaches of the RYCA Rockwall Youth Football league are business owners, police officers, corporate executives, salesmen, computer programmers, repair men, and managers.  Many of these coaches work 40 to 80 hours a week at their “normal” job, and some even coach their other kids in other sports.  They have the same family issues that everyone has.  They worry about paying bills, taking the kids to school, spending time with their spouses, cleaning their houses, and mowing their lawn.

The RYCA Rockwall coaches of youth football have committed to teaching the game to young boys ages 5 to 12 trying to bring the spirit of competition and balance winning, losing, and instruction.  These youth football coaches have gone to coaching clinics put on by Coach Rodney Webb of Rockwall High School to learn the philosophy the high school has as well as game day strategy on offense and defense.  They have formed a board to help create a fair competitive environment for the boys to be able to compete against teams from across town.  They have coaches meetings every week, and watch game film to evaluate talent for upcoming games.  The volunteer coaches spend time with each kid and try to put them in a position of success and do their best to explain the reasoning of failures.  The coaches have helped put on parades and fundraisers for the organization to enjoy.

The Rockwall youth football organization is built upon men and women who dedicate no less than 20 plus hours a week to coaching, recruiting, fundraising, field preparation, speaking, teaching, disciplining, celebrating, developing game day plans and socializing in order to provide the best experience for our kids.  Weeknights, Saturdays, and Sundays are dedicated to the RYCA Youth Football Organization.

In addition to building an organization that is very strong which will feed into Rockwall Middle Schools and ultimately high school; the RYCA Youth Football Coaches have been committed to spending time with the Rockwall youth to help them get better mentally and physically for the game of football.

Every parent has been given the opportunity to be part of this experience whether it is coaching, announcing games, setting up the field, fundraising, participating in meetings or anything else that pertains to building a youth organization.

The RYCA is built on men and women who have been able to carve out what little time they have available to give back to our kids in the Rockwall and surrounding community.  Every coach has a different personality and some are more popular than others.  However, the bottom line is they have volunteered to give the best opportunity for our youth while sacrificing their time and in many cases their money to a great cause.  They don’t do it for pay, or to see their name in the paper.  They don’t do it because they have something to prove on the football field.  They do it because they love their kids, and want to help build an organization that will last for years to come.

I for one am thankful for the coaches (like my father) who gave their time and knowledge to me as I competed in youth sports.  These coaches who were in my life as a youth left me with lessons that I carried on in life.  Some of these lessons taught me that nothing was going to be given to me, and that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.  I learned that like football, not everyone can play every position in life; however, it takes a whole team to triumph over challenges.  I learned that the game is not always fair, but neither is life.  I also was taught that if executing plays were easy then everyone would do it. 

RYCA 6th Grade football team holds an impromptu "Players Only"
prayer before the start of the game.

Football is a game.  Less than 5% of the boys playing RYCA Football will play past high school.  Less than 1% of the players who make it to college in football will have a shot at the NFL.  However, the life lessons that the RYCA Youth Football coaches are invaluable to our kids as they grow and become productive members of the Rockwall Community.

Thanks RYCA Rockwall Youth Football Organization for your ongoing dedication to our kids and community as well as level of commitment you have given this season.

Go Jackets!!!