By Daryl Fletcher
Director of Library Services and Instructor of Information Technology
It all started when I fell in love with a beautiful young lady named Tara. It was my last semester as an undergrad student at the University of Alabama. Being typical college students, we didn’t have a whole lot of money, but we were able attend women’s basketball games for free. We enjoyed watching basketball together and the women’s team was very good.
Many years later, I was sitting in a faculty meeting at Brewton-Parker College. No, that’s not nearly as exciting as falling in love or watching a favorite sports team, but stay with me because there’s more to this story. I looked ahead on the printed agenda and noticed something about faculty members choosing a sports team to adopt. Even before it was explained, I was already thinking about women’s basketball. Was it possible that my interest was for more than just sentimental reasons?
I decided to talk with Steve Edwards, the Coach of the Lady Barons basketball team, and ask him what was needed. He told me about when he was a college student and played both baseball and basketball. His favorite history professor would often come to his baseball games, sit in the stands, and cheer for him. That simple act meant a lot to him and he still thinks about it today. I was asked if I would do the same for his team.
The Bible tells us a lot about encouraging each other:
- Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
- Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. (Proverbs 12:25)
- A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. (Proverbs 25:11)
Can that fitly spoken word sometimes come in the form of cheering when a player does something well on a basketball court? Yes, I think so.
I am busy with many other things, but I do attend games as often as I can and sometimes even come to their practices. I have noticed that practice always begins and ends with prayer. Coach Edwards demands excellence and pushes his team hard, but there’s never any question that he cares about everyone. I often see team members working on their class assignments in the library, which makes me very happy, and it seems that the best athletes on the team are also the most serious students. What I think is most amazing about all this is how I am treated as a member of the team. I have really enjoyed getting to know these student-athletes.
You’ll probably see Tara sitting next to me at a Lady Barons game. In our minds we are going back to our college days when we first fell in love.
