The Southeast-based Marshall Heights youth football team has acquired a much-needed financial backer to make the trip to Lake Buena Vista, Fla., where the Pop Warner National Championships begin this weekend.
The undefeated team — youths ages 12 to 15 with a 150-pound limit — claimed the Eastern Regional title by defeating a team from Philadelphia last weekend. Its celebration came with the cold realization that a trip to Florida is an expensive undertaking — an estimated $30,000 to pay the air fare, hotel and food costs of the 29 players and coaching staff.
“That was our thinking at the time,” Bison coach Jay Ford said yesterday. “Here we had won the game, but we had a problem. These are not youths who come from money.” The financial concern was eliminated after the Fannie Mae Foundation learned of the team’s plight and responded to the need in a telephone call to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.
The Fannie Mae Foundation presented a $30,000 check to the team during a pep rally at the Richard England Clubhouse on Benning Road yesterday, which prompted elation anew among Mr. Ford and the parents who see so much good in the football program.
The good extends far beyond the team’s 13-0 record and the compelling statistic of allowing only one touchdown this season. The program, started in 1994 by Mr. Ford, provides an outlet for youths who otherwise might be lured to the streets of Ward 7.
“Too much free time is never good,” Mr. Ford said. “Even with this program, kids have to deal with things that they wouldn’t have to deal with in other parts of the city. But we have them for two hours a day, and that’s a big thing. It’s an important outlet for them.” Mr. Ford, a postal worker, notes that if it weren’t for the discipline and camaraderie of the football team, the youths in his program inevitably would opt to be part of something greater than them, much of it nowhere as wholesome as a game.
Mr. Ford grew up in Marshall Heights and saw it succumb to the drug scourge of the 1980s. It has endured all the big-city ills: too many single-parent families, too much poverty, not enough opportunity, underperforming schools and limited recreational venues.
Yet Mr. Ford sees evidence of hope coming to Marshall Heights. He sees revitalization popping up in parts of the neighborhood. But he also sees the same old problems that can bankrupt the next generation.
“You have to keep kids active,” Mr. Ford said. “You have to give them something to feel good about themselves.” Mr. Ford embraces the value of sports but places an equal emphasis on education. He requires his players to maintain a C average in order to stay eligible.
Mr. Ford, 40, has been coaching 22 years, long enough to witness the effect his program has had on the community.
“At this point, being able to see some kids get a free education to college and others become successful adults, that’s a good enough thing for me,” he said.
Mr. Ford knows he cannot save every troubled youth who comes his way. But he is making a difference, and with the backing of the foundation, his players are now going to Disney World.
“They’ve worked hard and put in the time, in the rain and the heat,” Mr. Ford said. “Going to the Pop Warner Super Bowl is a real honor for them, an opportunity they deserved.” The team leaves tomorrow before resuming its national championship quest Sunday.
Mr. Ford sounds unlike most football coaches when asked to assess his team’s chances.
“We’re the team to beat,” he said. “We’re the team you don’t want to see.” Mr. Ford has the hard-earned perspective to be upbeat around a game, for the team on the other side of the field is the least of the challenges before his players.
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