3C
SPORTS/lUe €jarlMt #o«
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Youth served in league
Continued from page 1C
primary focus is on improv
ing the young players as peo
ple.
C^ainly that isn’t an unfa
miliar goal among coaches,
but the coaches in the YDFL
are downright obsessed with
that mission.
‘X)n my team, at the first
practice, I want their grade
cards fium the last quarter,”
said Bdl, who played defen
sive back for the Steelers and
Bengals and coaches the
YDFL’s use TYqjans, which
feature his 8-year-old son,
Corey
“And then every week, one
of the coaches will make the
rounds and talk to the par-
^ts (about the report cards).
And if we need to go talk to
the teachers, we’re going to
do that. We’re letting them
know: Tf you’re not up to
these standards, you won’t
play this week. And if it con
tinues, you’re going to be off
the team.”
‘Tlain and simple, football
is just half of it.”
The great part?
The players in the league
don’t mind things being so
stringent.
‘We want to be out here,”
said 12-year-old Aaron
McNeely, a defensive
end/wide receiver for the
Miami Hurricanes. ‘We lis
ten to what they have to say
because we know they’re just
trying to help us. We love
these guys.”
The football aspect of the
league is pretty interesting —
and fun. Individual and team
statistics will be kept on the
league’s Web site,
WWW. youthdevelopmentfoot-
ball.com, which is run by
Horton’s wife, LaWanda, who
serves as vice president.
There will be a playoff system
(are you reading, college foot
ball leaders?), an All-Star
game, a Heisman Trophy
winner and an end-of-the-
season banquet.
“All I know is this: If I could
have had this kind of experi
ence when I was a kid, I
would have loved it,” said
Pleasant, a Tfennessee State
alum who play 14 NFL sea
sons and won a Sup^ Bowl
with the Patriots in 2001.
“So, yeah, I know these kids
are eiyoying everything that
we’re giving them. That’s
what makes it feel so good to
us, as adults. Ib sit back and
watch them experience what
it feels like to excel is amaz
ing.”
E-mail C. Jemal Horton at see-
jemalwrite@aol.com.
Sting playing for jobs, pride
Continued from page 3C
said. “All year, we’ve known what we can do
as a team, it’s just a matter of putting it
together. It was v«y important just to see all
that hard work pay off” »
Despite the losing record, Cliarlotte has
become a factor in the WNBA playoff chase
with wins over Detroit this month. The Shock
has a better conference record than
Washington, and would clinch fourth place if
they finish tied. The Mystics and Shock end
the regular season against each other.
“It’s very satisfying,” said ;^filIer, a reserve
who scored 12 points in 19 minutes in
'Riesday’s victory over Detroit. “If we can’t get
in, we want to keep them out.”
^filler’s help off the bench was a catalyst for
Charlotte, which played without starting
cetner Tangela Smith (knee bruise). She and
forward Sheri Sam, who also scored 12, were
the only Sting players to reach double-fig
ures, but Charlotte spread the offense while
connecting on 44.2 percent of its shots.
“When we had one of our top players go
down in Tangela Smith, Tfeana, Ayana
Walker and (Adrienne) Goodson and JaneU
(McCarville), everybody played a heck of a
game tonight and that was the m^or differ
ence,” Bogues said.
“We knew we had to step up,” Miller said.
“We knew we were missing Tangela, so we
just had to add that much more scoring fium
the bench.”
^\^th jobs on the line for next season,
Bogues has used the last three weeks to eval
uate players. He’s pleased with their effort
despite the mixed results.
“Considering the record, they could’ve just
taken off and called it quits, but they’re play
ing hard and everybody who comes in give
me 110 percent effort,” he said. “That’s what
we’ve got to continue to do,”
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