‘We’re not just here to play football’

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Northwest Whitfield High School football players Hunter Burnette, left, and Isaiah Mack, both 16, clean up tile after it was removed from the floor at City of Refuge Friday. Dalton High players were part of the community service project. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
Dalton and Northwest football players work together at the City of Refuge as they lift a roll of floorcovering Friday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
Harding Academy assistant coach's son Griffin Newby, 10, helps serve lunch at Providence Ministries Friday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen
Trevor Smith cools off by diving into the pool at the Dalton Recreation Center as his teammates from Harding Academy look on Friday. Harding is in Searcy, Ala. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

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July 14, 2012

‘We’re not just here to play football’

7-on-7 players join in service projects

Devin Golden devingolden@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Sat Jul 14, 2012, 10:23 PM EDT

As the first few meals were served at Providence Ministries, the importance of Friday’s efforts became visible.

“We know we’re not just here to play football,” said Harding Academy’s Kohl Blickenstaff, a junior wide receiver.

Players from three schools — Dalton and Northwest Whitfield were the others — who participated in separate service projects throughout Dalton as part of a community day preceding today and Sunday’s Southeastern 7-on-7 Championship.

The Catamounts and Bruins went to City of Refuge to replace flooring in the kitchen and dining room. Harding went to Providence Ministries to clean up in the chapel and serve food during lunch.

For Blickenstaff and the Wildcats — from Searcy, Ark. — this is just another act of kindness.

“Every year we try and get to some sort of service project we can do,” he said. “It’s definitely a rewarding experience. We’ve been told what’s going on here and it’s awesome to see how God is working.”

Providence Ministries is a Christian-based nonprofit rescue mission in Dalton that provides food, shelter and addiction recovery for those in need. The Harding athletes helped move furniture, cooked meals and completed other projects. They arrived at around 9 a.m. and finished at around 1 p.m.

Team members participated in a service project in Mobile, Ala., two years ago when they competed in a seven-on-seven tournament at the University of South Alabama. In Mobile, the squad did a free pee wee football camp outside one of the housing developments.

“It’s a different type of ministry,” Harding coach Roddy Mote said of Providence. “It’s amazing what they do. It’s incredible.”

The ministry’s chaplain, Wesley Noland, had a few words of kindness in exchange for the acts.

“When I first talked to the coach, Roddy Mote, he said he just wanted to serve and it was more important to him than football,” Noland said. “That’s unusual to hear from a football coach. These kids have worked hard, too. ... You can tell they’re well coached and well disciplined.”

At City of Refuge, Director Pamela Cudd had just as many nice things to say about the Northwest and Dalton volunteers.

“We’ve needed new flooring (in those rooms) for years,” she said. “That’s a prayer answered. We’ve had flooring donated in other parts but these rooms were the most challenging.”

City of Refuge offers a number of programs for people and families struggling and living in difficult environments, or “in the margins,” according to its website. The building is an older structure and received donations from Dalton’s IVC US for laminate flooring. The players spent an hour digging up the old flooring and another hour putting down the new. Tournament director Christian Byrd said Christian Heritage and Southeast Whitfield team members planned to take part in the project, too, but Northwest and Dalton provided enough manpower to pull it off.

Dalton senior defensive end/linebacker Ryan Young believes the reasons for doing such work are simple.

“We all thought ‘Why not?’” he said when asked what the players’ reaction was when coach Matt Land told them about it. “Everyone comes to the Dalton and Northwest football games to support us, so let’s give back.”

“When (the coaches) told us about it, we were happy to do it,” Bruins junior lineman Isaiah Mack said. “Our hands were up quick.”

But the subplot about the work being done was who was doing it. Dalton and Northwest, heated rivals on the football field, blended the red and blue together while moving around objects and carrying equipment inside the rooms.

“It helps us come together and shows we can not be rivals,” Dalton senior lineman Dustin Stanley said.

“It’s good to see that we can get off the field and come together for the community,” said Northwest defensive end coach Steve Smith, who was at the site helping the players.

Once the service projects ended, some players joined local kids for an afternoon of fun and games at James Brown Park in the afternoon. There were inflatables, free pizza and water, and Epic Entertainment’s mobile video game center, which was a big hit.

Andrew Greeson, a 16-year-old Coahulla Creek High School student, spent most of his time inside with his hands on a video game controller. He and his cousin, Ethan Binyard, went toe to toe in a game of Madden NFL 2012.

“I won,” Greeson said. “It was on Xbox, too, and I never play Xbox. I have a (Playstation 3).”

Greeson’s grandfather was happy to get the kids out of the house.

“We just came out here to play on the inflatables and get (my five grandchildren) some exercise,” Dalton resident Herb Slaton said.

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‘We’re not just here to play football’

7-on-7 players join in service projects

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