Friday, January 30, 2009

Congratulations to Allen High School FCA for being selected as the KCBI 90.9/ Greater Dallas FCA Huddle of the Month for January.

They will be highlighted on KCBI 90.9 radio today (Friday) afternoon at 2:25pm. Be sure to tune in!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Take Time For Kindness

I heard this on the way to work this morning and thought that I should share, its a great story, enjoy!


I'd like to give you another story that shows a different side. This story is real. It was written by the talented Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated and it inspires me every time I read it:


High school football is big in America, but I suppose there is no place where it is bigger than in Texas. Friday nights there are legend.
The fans scream; the stands are packed; cheerleaders with pom-poms jump and sway to the beat of the school bandand everybody joins in the chants and stomps their feet on the metal stands until you are sure they will collapse.
This is the frenzy of Texas high school football.
But there is one football team in Texas that is a little different. When they play on Friday night, their stands are empty, no band, no cheerleaders, no mass of parents or townsfolk wearing the school colors and waving banners and flags. They take the field without anyone cheering them on. When they score a touchdown, which rarely happens, there is no wild celebration behind them… All of it seems hollow and muffled in contrast to the tidal wave of roars and drums and chants that come from the opposing side.
They are the Tornadoes of the Gainesville State School, a fenced, maximum-security facility. The young men who go to Gainesville State are there because they have made some major mistakes in their lives. But the players who are on the team are there because they have worked hard and have earned enough good behavior points that gives them the privilege to leave the facility and play football on Friday nights—always an away game for them—always a home game for their opponents—and almost always a loss. They don’t have a weight program or training equipment or high-paid coaches and assistants. They don’t have a large pool of players to draw from. The school has 275 boys, but many are too old or too young or can’t or don’t meet the “criteria” to play. And they don’t have the support of a town and a mass of parents and family and reporters and bands and cheerleaders.
That is, until November 7th. Something changed. They played Grapevine Faith Christian School.
A few days before the game, the Gainesville coach, Mark Williams received a call from Faith Christian coach, Kris Hogan, asking him if it would be okay if Faith formed a “spirit” line for his team when they ran on the field. Mark said, “Sure, that would be a real encouragement to the kids.” He thought that the line would consist of a couple of the JV cheerleaders, but when they took the field, there were a hundred people in it and it stretched to the 40-yard line, filled with Faith Christian parents, fans and varsity cheerleaders, complete with a banner at the end for them to burst through that read “Go Tornadoes!”. And then, those parents and fans sat in the stands behind the Gainesville players and when the Tornadoes broke the huddle and went up to the line they could hear people cheering for them, by name. When they got a first down, “their” fans erupted.
You see, coach Hogan had sent an email out to the Faith Christian parents and students asking them to consider doing something kind for these young men, many who didn’t know what it meant to have a mom and dad who cared, many who felt the world was against them, not for them. Hogan asked that they simply send a message that these boys were “just as valuable as any other person on earth.”
So half of the Faith Christian fans were now sitting on the visitor’s side of the field, cheering for the Gainesville team, and in some cases, against their own sons.
–Cheering for a team decked out in mismatched old uniforms and helmets.
–Cheering for boys who wouldn’t go home that night and have a smiling dad slap him on the back and feel his mom put her arms around him and say “I’m so proud of you son!”
–Cheering for the underdog.
This was a Friday night like no other for the Tornadoes. In the locker room, the players were confused.
“Why are they cheerin’ for us, coach?”
“Because, men, they want to encourage you. They want you to know that they care about you…that you have value.”

Coach Williams said the boys were stunned. For many of these kids, it may have been the first time that anyone had shown them, so visibly, unconditional love.
They were down 33 to nothing at the half. Williams encouraged his team to set a goal for the second half: to score a touchdown against this vastly superior team. And when the boys from the State School took the field again, with their fans cheering them on, everything started to click. And they did score. Not once but twice.
And the fans went wild.
Coach Williams was asked what the bus ride was like on the way home and he laughed and said that they were all asleep—their bellies were full. That’s becuz after the game, the parents brought a whole bunch of food over to the guys: hamburgers, fries, candy, sodas…and included in the meal sack was a Bible and a personal letter of encouragement from a Faith Christian player. But then, he said, they formed a line for us out to the bus. And the parents patted them on the back and said, “Nice game” and “Look forward to seeing you guys next time.”
As they left the field that night, Coach Williams grabbed Coach Hogan and said to him: “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.”

Hope you enjoyed it,

Candice S.
Admin Asst.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Team Partnership Events

Team Partnership Events

Highland Park
Monday, January 26th
7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
Highland Park High School
Highlander Stadium - Varsity Meeting Room
Free Dessert Reception
RSVP Required email fcadallas@gmail.com
or by calling 214-739-8003 by January 21st.



Rockwall
Tuesday, January 27th
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Rockwall High School - Cafeteria Annex
901 Yellow Jacket Ln.
Rockwall, TX
Free Dinner provided by Texas Land & Cattle
RSVP Required email fcadallas@gmail.com
or by calling 214-739-8003 by January 21st.

Duncanville
Wednesday, January 28th
7:00AM - 8:30 AM
First Baptist Church of Duncanville
232 W. Wheatland Rd.
Duncanville, TX
Free Breakfast
RSVP Required email fcadallas@gmail.com
or by calling 214-739-8003 by January 21st.

Hosted by RockYouPhotos.com
All Team Partnership Events will have guest speaker Mike Flynt who will share how it is never too late to tackle your dreams! hear Mike share about his amazing year as a 59-year old college linebacker.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Back on the saddle

Well our Holiday vacation is over and its back to daily grind. We all seemed to have a very enjoyable holiday and we hope that you and you family had a wonderful Christmas and that your New Year is starting off great. We are getting ready for Weekend of Champions, it's coming up pretty fast only 50 days away :). We are getting really excited about the event. We hope to see you there!

Because I am absent minded at times here is the link for our pictures from the Christmas Party on our Facebook Group page, if you are not a group member be sure to become one while you are checking the pictures out!

Excited about 2009,
Candice Snyder
Admin Asst.


Greater Dallas FCA Facebook Group Photos