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Step… step… step…
The trip, any maps application will say, took only about 3 miles.
But for high school football players and coaches at University Christian, this short journey meant so much more.
Walking and jogging, row upon row, University Christian football players and coaches in unison made their way on foot from their field to the Southside home of assistant coach Matt Thomas on July 14 to offer their support as he fights cancer.
UC's short trek has quickly turned into a fast-spreading good news sensation far beyond Jacksonville's city limits. Head coach David Penland III didn't envision it that way. It was just one way to help a friend in need.
"We don't want him fighting this thing alone, especially being a UC guy," Penland said.
Thomas has spent most of his life close to University Christian. That's where he graduated in 1994, a standout two-way lineman during the school's football dynasty and also a solid baseball slugger on a UC team that qualified for the state final four back-to-back. For well over a decade, he's helped extend a lengthy playoff streak with the football staff. Sons Caleb and Luke have both lined up for UC football during Penland's tenure, now entering its 16th year.
But Thomas is now facing a different battle, after he was diagnosed with cancer during the spring. His treatment regimen has kept him away from the team during summer.
"It takes a mental toll on you," Penland said. "This is a way to say, 'We're here, Bud. We're not going through it the way you are, but we're going to do everything we can to help you.'"
The UC players made the run in the early-morning hours before their scheduled conditioning ahead of the Florida High School Athletic Association football season, which will open fall practice on July 27.
Penland said offensive assistant coach Matt Hammett came up with the original plan.
"He said, 'Why don't we go run to his home?'" Penland said. "At first, we were going to drive part of the way and then walk, but then we decided to run the whole way."
A week before the run, Penland informed the team: On Tuesday, the usual routine for off-season conditioning was going to take a detour.
"It just clicked in everybody's heads that we all wanted to do this for him," defensive tackle Julius LaRosa said.
So when the clock hit 7:30 a.m. on that Tuesday morning, a pack of 60 players and seven coaches began to make their way along the sidewalks and through the neighborhoods of Jacksonville's Southside.
LaRosa, a multi-sport athlete has committed to ACC football at North Carolina State, said it's probably the longest distance he's ever covered in a football conditioning session. But he said traveling some extra ground was important to show his support. Thomas, he said, has been a mentor for him as his position coach on the defensive line since LaRosa arrived with the varsity program three years ago.
"It was pretty tiring, I'm not going to lie," LaRosa said. "But we had to keep fighting, just like him."
Lined up in matching dark T-shirts, the team arrived at the home, and the videos and photos from that visit soon lit up the football program's Instagram feed.
"We're showing him that we love him, we support him, we're here for him," said linebacker Matthew Hammett, whose father coaches the offense. "It was a good thing for us. It inspires us to play for him."
A time to meet, a time to talk and a time to pray.
"Seeing him and talking to him, seeing that he's able to talk to us and saying he misses us, that just meant a lot deep down," senior defensive tackle Gavin Craig said.
Since then, UC's visit has mushroomed into a viral sensation across media outlets new and old, even getting a mention on the NBC Nightly News.
"I didn't expect [this attention] at all, not at all," Craig said. "But I'm glad that we're showing people that UC is more than just a football team."
University Christian is counting down the days until its full-speed charge into the new football season, beginning with their Aug. 14 kickoff classic against Ocala Trinity Catholic. With every hurdle along the path, they're motivated to take on the challenge.
One step at a time.
"The way Coach Thomas is fighting, it shows us that when we're in the fourth quarter and we're tired or we've got a little bit of wear and tear, we'll just keep pushing," LaRosa said, "the way he's pushing through that battle right now."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: A home run: UC football players show support for assistant coach
Continue reading...
The trip, any maps application will say, took only about 3 miles.
But for high school football players and coaches at University Christian, this short journey meant so much more.
Walking and jogging, row upon row, University Christian football players and coaches in unison made their way on foot from their field to the Southside home of assistant coach Matt Thomas on July 14 to offer their support as he fights cancer.
UC's short trek has quickly turned into a fast-spreading good news sensation far beyond Jacksonville's city limits. Head coach David Penland III didn't envision it that way. It was just one way to help a friend in need.
"We don't want him fighting this thing alone, especially being a UC guy," Penland said.
Thomas has spent most of his life close to University Christian. That's where he graduated in 1994, a standout two-way lineman during the school's football dynasty and also a solid baseball slugger on a UC team that qualified for the state final four back-to-back. For well over a decade, he's helped extend a lengthy playoff streak with the football staff. Sons Caleb and Luke have both lined up for UC football during Penland's tenure, now entering its 16th year.
But Thomas is now facing a different battle, after he was diagnosed with cancer during the spring. His treatment regimen has kept him away from the team during summer.
"It takes a mental toll on you," Penland said. "This is a way to say, 'We're here, Bud. We're not going through it the way you are, but we're going to do everything we can to help you.'"
'KEEP FIGHTING'
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The UC players made the run in the early-morning hours before their scheduled conditioning ahead of the Florida High School Athletic Association football season, which will open fall practice on July 27.
Penland said offensive assistant coach Matt Hammett came up with the original plan.
"He said, 'Why don't we go run to his home?'" Penland said. "At first, we were going to drive part of the way and then walk, but then we decided to run the whole way."
A week before the run, Penland informed the team: On Tuesday, the usual routine for off-season conditioning was going to take a detour.
"It just clicked in everybody's heads that we all wanted to do this for him," defensive tackle Julius LaRosa said.
So when the clock hit 7:30 a.m. on that Tuesday morning, a pack of 60 players and seven coaches began to make their way along the sidewalks and through the neighborhoods of Jacksonville's Southside.
LaRosa, a multi-sport athlete has committed to ACC football at North Carolina State, said it's probably the longest distance he's ever covered in a football conditioning session. But he said traveling some extra ground was important to show his support. Thomas, he said, has been a mentor for him as his position coach on the defensive line since LaRosa arrived with the varsity program three years ago.
"It was pretty tiring, I'm not going to lie," LaRosa said. "But we had to keep fighting, just like him."
Lined up in matching dark T-shirts, the team arrived at the home, and the videos and photos from that visit soon lit up the football program's Instagram feed.
"We're showing him that we love him, we support him, we're here for him," said linebacker Matthew Hammett, whose father coaches the offense. "It was a good thing for us. It inspires us to play for him."
A time to meet, a time to talk and a time to pray.
"Seeing him and talking to him, seeing that he's able to talk to us and saying he misses us, that just meant a lot deep down," senior defensive tackle Gavin Craig said.
Since then, UC's visit has mushroomed into a viral sensation across media outlets new and old, even getting a mention on the NBC Nightly News.
"I didn't expect [this attention] at all, not at all," Craig said. "But I'm glad that we're showing people that UC is more than just a football team."
University Christian is counting down the days until its full-speed charge into the new football season, beginning with their Aug. 14 kickoff classic against Ocala Trinity Catholic. With every hurdle along the path, they're motivated to take on the challenge.
One step at a time.
"The way Coach Thomas is fighting, it shows us that when we're in the fourth quarter and we're tired or we've got a little bit of wear and tear, we'll just keep pushing," LaRosa said, "the way he's pushing through that battle right now."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: A home run: UC football players show support for assistant coach
Continue reading...
