Moody 1

James Moody

UWRT 1101-009

April 10th, 2017

Professor Griffin

Fuquay Varina Football Family

Fuquay Varina is a very small town that uses football to deter youth from wrong and to

help build character. The whole community is brought together in the fall every Friday night to

support their Bengals. In Fuquay Varina football is family and the entire community supports the

team. After a game, whether positive or negative the townspeople give their opinion. When a

community supports its athletics; the teams are generally more successful and successful teams

attract new players and fans.

Fuquay Varina is a very diverse community, yet rarely is anyone left out from race to

mental health; the community makes sure everyone feels included. At Fuquay Varina, the athletic

department focuses on autism awareness. The team is often lead by an autistic student who holds

the flag with the team logo on it. Austin, another autistic student, is the ball boy for the team.

Being the ball boy, he mainly throws passes to wide receivers during practice or in pre-game

warm ups. Another big event the team does is during halftime show of Autism Awareness week,

they honor them and the whole stadium cheers for them. On senior night, the autistic seniors

walk along with the football and cheerleading seniors to get their picture taken. During this

ceremony, the autistic kids are handed old jerseys to keep. Usually, the autistic students are
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isolated and athletes would not get the chance to talk to them. Without playing at Fuquay Varina

most athletes would miss the opportunity to have such a great experience.

Football was a sport traditionally only played by males of large stature and was

considered barbaric (Ryan, 2014). Often in movies football players are portrayed as

unintelligent and lacking communication skills. This is where a majority of the opinions about

players being illiterate comes from. Also, football is a contact sport that often leads to

concussions or momentary loss of brain activity. However, this is what makes football

Americas Sport. With shows like Sports Science and ESPN big hits are constantly replayed.

Fuquay Varinas Defensive Coordinator Daryl Lowe said, If you dont hit, youll be hit and it

will hurt a hundred times worse.

The football community at Fuquay Varina High School is different from other schools

because Fuquay Varina Football has the support of the local town. Other schools in the area do

not have a town or city supporting their football program. Instead they are in a rural area and

lack a true feeling of community. Having a town makes the school and the teammates feel more

like a family because everyone lives and works close to the school. Everybody is on a first name

basis, if anyone is walking down the street wearing a Fuquay Varina Football shirt all kinds of

people would smile and congratulate you on the game last Friday. Everyone comes to the game

young and old. On Friday nights the public addresses the announcer and the marching band can

be heard anywhere within ten miles. Leaving the game is like leaving the state fair. The fire

department comes to the games and puts a Fuquay Varina flag on its bucket and raises it high

beside the American flag. The band begins to play the National Anthem and the alumni take their

special seat in the end zone. The crowd stands up and the stadium begins to rock. Just as all the

blood is rushing and the adrenaline gets pumping, the coach will yell Gather up! The players
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get very close and chant, Dear Lord, the battles we go through life. We ask for a chance that's

fair. A chance to equal our stride. A chance to do or dare. If we should win, let it be by the code.

Faith and Honor held high. If we should lose, we'll stand by the road, and cheer as the winners

go by. Day by Day, we get better and better! The team that can't be beat, WON'T BE BEAT

(Husker Prayer). Just as the last words are said they run through the banner to the sideline. The

crowd begins to chant Aaaaaaaaaaahhh and just as the ball leaves the tee the chant stops. The

crowd stands and screams the entire game. The whole town of Fuquay Varina is cheering for the

Bengals and once the game has ended the whole team goes to Cookout. It is kind of ridiculous to

wait an hour to eat, but win or lose they still go and wait. Just being around teammates and

coaches will build relationships and help them get to know each other better.

On Saturday mornings after the game, the team wakes up early and go to a local

restaurant called Jus Enuff. Jus Enuff gives students a ten percent discount and athletes get

fifteen percent. Most local stores and restaurants in town gave a discount to students and athletes.

The community supports the team even when it is not game day. It is very rare the team would

eat at a place outside of town or that they would eat alone. By being such a small town many of

the businesses surrounding the school support the athletic teams. On Thursdays, the local Jersey

Mikes provides subs for the junior varsity players. On Fridays a local church cooks and prays for

the team. This contribution from the community is a benefit of playing for a small town; most of

the local business employees or owners played at Fuquay Varina and would donate to the team.

Their donations went towards new jerseys, field paint or things for senior night.

Being constantly surrounded by teammates and coaches brings the team closer together.

Fuquay Varinas Head Coach, Jeb Hall, often referred to it as team cohesion. To them, team

cohesion was similar to I am my brothers keeper. If something was to happen to a teammate

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another teammate was supposed to be there for them. Football for Fuquay Varina was like being

in a fraternity; people knew how Coach Hall ran the team. By having a no nonsense coach they

were seen as respectable and responsible young men.

Football creates friendships but in Fuquay Varina we are a family. From youth football

all the way up to varsity football kids will be a Bengal. This instills loyalty and builds

relationships with families in the community. It is easier to relate to like minded individuals and

football has such a wide variety of players that it brings people who normally would not like

each other to be best friends. In football, the parents get to be active. Fathers usually help with

field maintenance while mothers usually help with decorations for senior night and preparing

meals on Thursdays and Fridays. Being involved with the team and being around them all the

time, increases the family feeling. Often first impressions make people dislike others but by

being around each other so much they usually change their mind. However, some people do not

like the time and commitment required to play football at Fuquay Varina and will take their kids

to a larger program.

The thing I miss the most about football is playing in games, we ran a fast paced

offense. We never huddled, we did not want to give the other team a chance to rest. Coach gave

us hand signals said former Fuquay Varina star wide receiver, Jonathon Morris. He is describing

a special literacy football players have. These hand signals in different combinations mean

different plays. Everyone has to know the plays for the team to be successful, My freshman year

I read the wrong signal. I thought it was a running play instead of a pass. I went inside to block

the linebacker and I was supposed to run a nine route and the quarterback threw an interception

because I was not where I was supposed to be. (Morris, Interview). Jonathons simple mistake

cost his team the game. Football is said to be like a game of chess; a constant countering of the
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opponent's moves. In order to counter the opponents moves, the athlete must understand their

roles and understand what their opponents want to do. Usually after a mistake like this, Jonathon

would be put on the sideline. He would not be cut from the team but he would most likely not be

included into the social groups. The coaches would not coach him the same, he would get less

reps in practice and he would now be considered an Other.

Others are the kids who are not as athletically gifted, or kids that the coaches do not like.

Others are the kids who are left out of football; this also depends on the team the athlete plays

on. Luckily for Jonathon he was athletically gifted and he attended Fuquay Varina. At Fuquay

Varina High everyone stuck together and instead of being an Other, Jonathon would just be joked

on by players and coaches. Often at Fuquay Varina, the coaches say next play or live and

learn. Knowing that it is okay to make mistakes and you will not get taken out of the game for

one mistake builds trust and confidence. Jonathon later informed me that play was where his

jersey number came from. The number 9 is a reminder of a time I let my brothers down and I

used it for motivation and to help me strive for perfection every opportunity I got (Morris,

Interview). Adversity can motivate or deteriorate a child, the kid with a town behind him saying

shake it off is more likely to fight through. A kid fighting alone is more likely to give up and

walk away from the game.

According to the NCAA regulations the minimum GPA required to play college football

is 2.0 however; most school will not offer an athlete with anything lower than a 3.0. School,

much like sports is very competitive, without a high GPA athletes will not even be looked at.

Often only three to five players of each team will receive scholarship offers. This creates a

competitive nature among teammates but at Fuquay Varina the team studies together before

practices. Instead of competing against one another they push each other to strive for success. All
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three interviewees stated that their grades were higher during football season than in the off

season. Having that backbone and support group helped them not only maintain their grades but

strive for better ones. At Fuquay Varina at the end of each quarter they would have to submit a

grade and conduct report. This was to ensure that the athletes were performing well off the field

as well as on the field. A random day after practice the football players would run for anything

lower than a B. A C was one lap per class, a D was two laps per class and an F was 4

laps per class. Those penalties did not include conduct; if an athlete had a bad grade and bad

conduct in a class those were two separate penalties. I think it was my sophomore year, I had a

D and I had been playing around in class so my conduct grade was bad too. I remember being

scared to turn my report in. When I finally turned it in, I got dressed and walked down the dirt

trail, kicking up dust dragging my feet to the practice field. Practice seemed to take forever to

start but once it started it flew by. I remember we did 7v7s that day and I had a pick six. Fuquay

Varinas Defensive back Coach Eichorn was so proud because it was on the opponents favorite

play. Coach Hall said bring it up and dismissed practice and just as I turned to go back to the

locker room I feel a hand on my shoulder. Looking at me through his classes is Coach Lowe, he

tells me he saw my report and I had double the penalties because I was a leader on the team. I

bear crawled 400 yards and ran 4 laps. I made sure from that day on I did not get in trouble again

and any time I had a C in a class I talked to the teacher. (Hawkins, Interview). Rodneys

behavior and outlook on school was changed by getting in trouble once and having a harsh

punishment. Many athletes forget that they are student athletes but after a punishment like that

you are quickly reminded. Also word spreads so other athletes who wanted to avoid Rodney's

punishment got their acts together as well. This shows parents that Fuquay Varina takes
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academics seriously and that their sons are held accountable for their actions. Often athletes are

given a pass, like in the movie Carter High.

The aim of each team in football is to utilize the most effective strategy for scoring

touchdowns and winning games. However, it is difficult to find the most effective game plan,

which will result in wins each time. Each team has a different game plan and others use the

strategies of previous successful teams. For example, Although the goal is the ultimate

objective measure in football, it often provides little meaningful information to explain the

differences in the performances between the winning and losing teams (Madden. 1998).

Madden continues on to say, Time of possession is an example of things that do not completely

relate to touchdowns but helps teams win the game. At Fuquay Varina they run the wing-t

offense which involves a lot of running and eats up a lot of time. Darrell Royal once said But I

have always felt that three things can happen to you whenever you throw the football, and two of

them are bad. You can catch the ball; you can throw it incomplete, or have it intercepted. This is

what Fuquay Varina football is based on they run the ball so much that defensive backs fall

asleep, and that is when they throw a deep pass. This is same offense the team has been running

since the beginning of the program. It is easy for alumni to reflect on their glory days, because

they run the same offense as when they played.

The increasing growth of social media, results in an increase of access to the school and

its athletics. Right now anyone could go online and find photos or videos of the athletes and the

facilities. Athlete names are examples of reputation. Being such a small town, most people

recognize athletes and know their parents. Often they might be referred to as the Jones boy, their

parents reputation and their reputation is put together. Addison Braswell was a former Fuquay

Varina football player who graduated in 2005. When his brother came to Fuquay Varina in 2013,
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because of his brothers reputation he was put on varsity. This shows the importance of athletes

names and the role it plays in sports. Being a part of the Fuquay Varina community Addison laid

a pathway to success for his younger brother and any future Braswells.

As football is culturally central to many of the people in Fuquay Varina's lives, it

represents a channel through which discourses are constructed, reproduced and internalized.

Leadership is partly transmuted through the medium of football. However, leadership is always

capable of being challenged. Each week in practice the opportunity to be captain is given to

anyone. The captain in the game on Friday is whoever did the best both in the classroom and on

the field. Being the captain is seen as an honor and you are seen as the leader of your team.

Football is a rewarding sport. By playing football athletes are given the opportunity to

express themselves. Football also helps keep kids out of trouble. After a long day of school and

three hours of practice children will be too tired to go out and get into trouble. Also with all the

discipline that football instills athletes will be more likely to make the right decision and not

hang out with a bad crowd. Football also brings physical fitness and confidence. In order to play

football you have to be in top physical and mental condition. Playing football in Fuquay is a

different experience than playing anywhere else. The town of Fuquay Varina supports its football

team unlike other schools in the conference and this is a large part of the reason, Fuquay Varina

Football is so successful.
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