Drive down Wildcat Blvd. on a late summer evening and you’ve probably seen what looks like little motorized golden bobbleheads running around Whitney Community Park. Tackling, falling, smashing into one another. This is where it all begins for a lot of the future football players as part of the Whitney Junior Wildcat football program. When the game is easy, fun, innocent. This is where many of the players of the varsity football team, like Justin Kraft and Nick Eaton, learned their love for the game. But now the game is not so simple due to off-field distractions that have rocked the program.

As they prepare to take the on field this season, the team will rely on a new coach, the seniors and a divided community to come together and support the program.

No one has a greater appreciation for the game than new head coach Jesse Armas. This is his 14th year of coaching and ninth year here. Though he recognizes these are not ideal circumstances to take over a team, he is ready to step up to the challenge. His coaching philosophy is to keep things simple because he believes in his players.

Armas believes this team has a lot of talent, as long as they execute the plays they have worked on during practice. He is confident that with a strong collection of players to rely upon, they will be just fine.

Armas stands by the thought that the ability to overcome adversity, sticking together and rallying behind him will lead to success. The seniors have been meeting and talking.

Senior Nick Eaton’s main goal is to make sure the leaders are leading the team in the right direction, and everyone is buying into what the new system has brought.

As far as moving forward, Justin Kraft said the goals of the team have not changed and they still want to win, still want to go 10-0, no doubt. Playoffs are still in question, but as of now Davis is their focus.

An emergency meeting took place this past Sunday night to allow parents and players express their concerns. I’ve never seen anything like it and was surprised to see how many parents and players spoke up in support for someone that jeopardized their entire season. Many parents felt the coaches were role models to their kids and that the infractions committed should not have resulted in the coaches losing their job. Hopefully as the anger fades and emotions settle everyone will be able to remember what is most important in this unfortunate saga and that is the players themselves. Parents and school officials must remember this is a game played by young men who had no fault in what has occurred. It is time to make them the priority and support them throughout the season, win or lose.

They say sports is a great way to teach life lessons like respect, integrity and courage. This year’s team will definitely have a greater understanding of these lessons. In fact, it might be this team’s ability to overcome their off field challenges that will make them bigger winners than anything they accomplish on the field. With a coach who is ready to take on the challenge, a team ready to unite and perform on the field, this is a duality to rally behind.

by EMMA KACHMAR