“The Child first, and the Sport second!”
That
is the motto of BVFA. It helps reminds us to keep our priorities straight – the child first in everything we do at BVFA.
When medallions and trophies are passed out every year what we hope to hear from
the players on all teams – first place to
last place – is that they had fun, made friends, became stronger and learned
how to play football better.
The
purposes and goals of BVFA (Article II. Sections 1 & 2) are:
(A) To teach the fundamentals of
football.
(B) To develop good character within
each player.
(C) To encourage the development of a
physically fit body.
(D) To create a healthy competitive
spirit among the players.
(E) To ensure the safety of each player.
Another
way of putting this is that -- through
the game of football our goals are to develop good character within each player,
encourage the development of a physically fit body, create a healthy
competitive spirit among the players and ensure the safety of each player.
It
takes the involvement of a lot of people for BVFA to achieve its purposes and goals:
● Coaches -- They are selected by local
associations and pass BVFA background checks. Many are parents, former BVFA
players and former athletes who love helping children learn the sport.
● Referees – BVFA refs are certified members of
the Texas Association of Sports Officials
(TASO), an independent organization,
providing support, resources and training for Texas high school sports
officials. With more than 150 local chapters serving 14,500+ members throughout
the state, TASO is one of the largest
professional organizations for sports officials in the country.
● Local Association Officers and Directors – Only non-profit
organizations are members of BVFA. All of the people that run these
organizations are volunteers.
● Town Representatives -- Members of
the board of the local associations and also a member of the BVFA board of
directors. They are the key link between all of BVFA organizations.
● BVFA Officers – BVFA President, Vice
President, Secretary-Treasurer and Rules Chairman. They are also volunteers and
are elected to serve one year terms by the BVFA Board of Directors. They have
all been involved in local associations and coaching for a long time and have
lots of experience behind them.
● Parents – You are the most important because your
participation makes it possible for our teams to exist. It takes a big
investment in time to transport players to practice, games and other team activities.
You are the primary role models of all our players.
● Fans – Everyone that has ever been involved
in a competitive sport understands the power of the fans. The number of fans
may be very different, but the experiences on the field are very similar when players
hear the fans respond to a play. You play a very important role in making BVFA games
enjoyable, rewarding and teaching the players what “a healthy competitive
spirit” is.
When
it comes to achieving success in accomplishing two of purposes and goals -- developing good character in every player
& creating a healthy competitive spirit – it takes all of the people listed above.
Kids
pay close attention to and mimic adults. They learn from the words, behaviors
and actions of the adults around them – even
when those adults are strangers. Sometimes in the “heat of the game” it is easy to forget that the players on the
field are all children – on both teams.
They are not high school, college or NFL players. Our Super Bowl games will be played
at AT&T Stadium, but there will be lots of empty seats and the media will
not be there.
For
the majority of BVFA players, their football careers will end when they play
their last Major Division game. But, 20 years later many of them will be still
be friend with people they met while playing BVFA football – and they will still be talking about games
they played together.
I will leave you with a modified version of a
saying that most will probably know very well. I have used it for many years – especially when my grandkids were and my great
grandkids are on the field playing BVFA Football:
Do unto the players and fans on the other side,
as you would have them do unto your players and fans!
Enjoy
your games tomorrow and thanks for playing a big role in helping BVFA achieve
its goals.
Jim
Myers
Advisory
Director BVFA
*The
above are thoughts are strictly mine.
