Everyone had a great time at SACRAMENTO’S MARCH 31 ANNUAL CRAB FEED & AUCTION, and our Captains were amazing. Rancho Cordova’s Mayor (David Sanders) spoke; former 49ers, Raiders, and college players, as well as current New York Jet Garrett McIntyre were in the house of over 300 guests. And to top it off, we had a great time honoring Loreto Garza. We’ll all remember the evening for a long time.

CORDOVA RECREATION & PARK DISTRICT TEAMS UP WITH PLAYMAKERS

Playmakers is proud to have found a home with CRPD in Rancho Cordova. CRPD has given Playmakers a classroom, fields, and access to its resources so we can offer free tackle football to kids and families who cannot afford the cost to play.
Over 30 kids are participating in afterschool academic tutoring and core values mentoring before going out onto the field for football fundamentals taught by a variety of volunteer coaches. Playmakers anticipates having over 100 kids and families participating by Spring.
We are so grateful to CRPD for its vision in giving Playmakers a home. Playmakers and CRPD co-host a free monthly pancake breakfast called “Second Saturday” that includes bringing in various resources from the community. The first breakfast had over 80 kids and parents in attendance.

“Any parent with children involved in activities knows the expenses can add up. Most sports have a registration fee, often include special equipment like bats or cleats and items like gloves, wristbands, snacks, with Gatorade and eye-black piled on for good measure.

Throw a second or third child into the mix and a hundred bucks or so can quickly grow to a hefty expense. For youth football, this burden is often magnified as youth leagues need to provide proper safety equipment for players of differing ages and sizes – which adds up quickly.

A locally-based group called Playmakers has come up with a simple solution for this expense: get someone else to pay it. The group’s director, former NFLer Greg Roeszler, said Playmakers is slowly building a base of business partners interested in the group’s goals and, come Fall, should have enough financial support to offer a full youth football program at no cost to the participants.

Certainly Roeszler hasn’t brought business partners onboard with Playmakers just for the pursuit of free football. Playmakers has an established reputation for character-based coaching instruction with an eye toward using football as a tool to instill particular ethics that the program’s participants might be otherwise lacking, like respect, courage, discipline and similar concepts.

“We use football as a means to get all of the kids together and then utilize that as an opportunity to help teach them the values that go into becoming a respectable man,” Roeszler said.

And the message is slowly getting out. Playmakers run their program after school at the converted Riverview Elementary. The sessions include time in the classroom to complete homework and then about 40-45 minutes (as available daylight warrants) to practice some football fundamentals.

The group has about 25-30 players now, but Roeszler is hoping to get more than 100 kids by the time the season is ready to start. The ages of the players range from about 7 to about 12 and, ideally, Playmakers will have teams for different age divisions.

“We just really believe football has a lot of great life lessons to teach,” Roeszler said. “We want to reach out to these kids and give them a chance to learn those lessons in an environment where they can have some fun, too.”

And the values are sinking in. Few kids miss sessions and most, like Carmani Shedrich, can recite Playmakers’ core principles – like SLANT. “S means sit up front, L means lean forward, A means act iNterested, and T means track the teacher,” Shedrich said.

Being dedicated to school work is only one aspect of the lessons stressed by Playmakers. Participants must also strive to conduct themselves properly, or as Playmakers would say, with character. Most of the participants know character means, “doing the right thing when no one’s looking.”

The character lessons are sometimes hard to maintain, and the penalties of accountability are sometimes difficult, but the pursuit of those higher expectations seem to be as much of a draw for the players as running pass routes and catching footballs.

“I wasn’t always doing good things,” said Vincent Dyson. “But I have been more since I’ve been playing football…and I’ve gotten my grades up, too.”

Nevertheless, there’s no denying the lure of football. One of the program’s older participants, Trevor Chew, acknowledged the opportunity to do homework and learn character-based lessons is good. “I was raised to be respectful, but it still helps because I get mad sometimes and forget,” Chew said. But the bottom line for most of the players is football. “I’ve never really been on a team before, so I really love it,” Chew added.

Roeszler is quick to admit to the potential conflict with the Jr. Lancers, but hoped the programs could peacefully co-exist. “I’ll be the first person to say the last thing anyone needs is another football program,” Roeszler said. “We just believe so strongly in football’s ability to reach out to the kids in our community who really deserve a shot at growing up to become successful people.”

For more information, visit www.theplaymakers.org, or call 916-220-1284.

Character:
Doing the right thing when no one is watching

January 21 – There Is Hope ~ Do You Care?

Having just finished watching countless bowl games and beginning to process the 2011 football season, I feel as frustrated as ever as I look at the character breakdowns in our student athletes across the country. Just Google “college football arrests” and get ready to stick your finger down your throat. Not to single out one institution, but one young man, when stopped by law enforcement, commented, “I don’t give a *#>!*, I play for (school)…and I’ll get out of it anyway.” Who is mentoring this kid who has accepted a full scholarship and represents that institution? I can just imagine what his GPA is.

I coach in Sacramento where one of our high school coaches was just arrested for his alleged relationship with a minor girl from his campus. Piled on top of all that, my gut tells me we are just on the tip of the iceberg in lies and cover ups re the Penn State fiasco.

Huskers, you did not go the season without character breakdowns either. The young men we watch and who paint their faces red or some other color owe us more. The coaches that coach them owe us a product that we can be proud of. So you think I am being too judgmental? Don’t let yourselves off the hook. We play, coach, and watch the greatest game that God put on the face of the earth. The Superbowl is nothing short of Christmas. The National Championship Game is now prime time. So I want to offer some light, some positives, in what we have become numb to.

The University of Hawaii’s quarterback is David Graves. Now I will admit that I know this young man and his family personally, but I will write about any kid who has the character that this kid demonstrates. I saw David last week at church with his family, as he was home on a short break. I happened to have a 7-year-old with me who we brought along that day. David Graves made this kid feel special just by talking to him and being interested in him. David asked the “What position do you play” questions and more importantly, he created “a moment” for this little guy.

This kid didn’t stand in line at the mall to meet Graves. He didn’t have to pay to go to his camp. He met Graves in church where Graves is very much at home. David will now ask me how the little guy is doing, and he’ll look for him this summer. My guess is the little dude will be wearing a Rainbow Warrior Football tee shirt as soon as I get Graves the kid’s size. David has created a memory, and he will be remembered by the experience that Graves took the time to make.

My guess is, David understands why he can’t get behind the wheel if he shouldn’t. He knows how to make the right decisions. I want to be around guys like David Graves. They bring me great pride, and I am a fan who has watched him growing into the man God intended. He may or may not be in the NFL (I wouldn’t bet against him), but who cares? David will be a success because he has character formed by a Mom and Dad who coached him well.

Here is even more to look forward to: David’s younger brother, Dano, just finished his freshman season as the quarterback at the Air Force Academy. That’s right, two brothers playing college football, both quarterbacks giving to others.

My hope is that you will not become numb to what we cheer for. We can demand more and set the bar high. You can be a fan who comes and goes with little significance, or you can stand up, be heard and demand character from your chair. Do it by writing. Become a voice and make a difference. Maybe you will meet some student/athletes you can be proud of. Maybe you will meet David and Dano Graves. Refuse to cheer guys who tell law enforcement officers, “I am going to get out of it anyway.”
…Coach Roz
Greg “Coach Roz” Roeszler is the Founder & Executive Director of Playmakers Mentoring Foundation. If you would like to invite Coach Roz to come and speak to your organization, just go to the “Contact Us” page on this web site.

COACH GREG ROESZLER:

Thurs., April 26. ACSA North State Spring Conference. Grand Sierra Resort, Reno NV

Thurs. & Fri., May 10 & 11. NAFIC National Convention at the Golden Nugget, Las Vegas NV

Wed., May 16, 7 a.m. Loomis Basin Rotary Club at Sunset Whitney Golf Club

Thurs., May 17, Noon. Optimist Club at Lucas Restaurant & Bar, 1615 J St., Sacramento