FOOTBALL CAPITAL OF NC!

 

What does it take to become the “Football Capital of NC”?  Many people think it is just because Reidsville has won 23 State Championships.  When it was first coined by Representative Nelson Cole in Raleigh, NC, that was the intention.  However, it has become so much more.   I feel it has a completely different meaning.   It is an “Evolution of Champions”. 

 

Reidsville Football is a way of life that is instilled in young men from a very early age.  It starts at age four during flag football at the Reidsville Recreation Department.  Many of those kids have no idea what it means, but they will soon learn through family members, coaches and older players what it means to be a champion.

 

 They will advance from flag football to Tackle One.   During Tackle One they will learn to block, tackle, pass, kick and run plays.   They will learn to get up after being knocked down.   They begin to learn what it takes to play at the Football Capital of NC.

 

From Tackle One, they advance to the first step of “Big Boy” football.   Tackle Two is a different world for these young men.   They are playing against players who have hit their first big growth spurt.   The speed of the game, the size of players, along with the intensity of the coaches and other players changes to something they have never experienced.   If they are lucky enough to make the yearly All-Star team, they will chant the words…. “Reidsville... You Know”, for the first time.  They are a long way from the days of pulling flags and playing in the dirt, but just as far away from playing under the Friday Night Lights, but they are evolving into champions.

 

The players then transition to Reidsville Middle School and become a Raider.  While not the same as a Ram, it is a close second.   None of those 7th graders want to be the team that doesn’t bring home the County Championship.   They walk into practice for the first time and see the returning 8th graders, who in many cases are heads and shoulders above them both in size and speed.   They take their knocks learning to play the game at a different level.   These young men are becoming more skilled and talented.   They are evolving into champions.  

 

Reidsville High School awaits.   The expectations are like few players will ever face in high school.   The community expects nothing less than greatness.   Black Friday means shopping for most of the country, but not at the Football Capital of NC.   It means another deep run into the play offs.   The history, the tradition, the mystique, the blue and gold, the fans, older brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents all are on the shoulders of the players.   As Rams, the players know what is expected of them.  They have Evolved into Champions for the Football Capital of NC!