Like many sports, playing football has many life lessons, some of which are GREATLY emphasized.  One player can’t dominate a football field. It is an 11 on 11 game and as such TEAMWORK is developed to the greatest of extents.  A Division I quarterback can’t be effective if they are not protected by the well-orchestrated protection efforts of the offensive line in front of them.  This scenario can be created for any position on the football field. Football is an incredibly technical game where the collective efforts of the team far outweigh any individual talent or effort.

As a coach, one of my missions for our program is to develop this emphasis on teamwork into a community – one that supports one another but also looks to extend this support to our greater Long Island community.  I want our players to take away an understanding that life is bigger than football and to use some of the lessons they have learned to serve their community.  Last year, we had a group of our players volunteer to help an organization set up their homeless shelter at Ascension Lutheran Church in Deer Park. We worked as a team to transform a church gymnasium into a functioning shelter in the dead of winter.  I want our players to take away the command of Jesus to “Love our neighbors as ourselves” and for them to understand that everyone is made equal in the image of God and as such we need to empathize and treat all people with respect. Setting up the shelter, and the interactions we had with some of the people staying there, really helped deliver these messages outside of the football field.