Sports
Kiwanis Club host Women’s football clinic
Thursday, 06 September 2012 by Jennifer John
The Kiwanis Club hosted the second annual Belton Tigers Women's Football Clinic to benefit the Belton Christian Youth Center and other local charities from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 25 at the recently built Multi-Sport Complex behind the Belton High School football stadium.
Coaches uniformly greeted guests at the door and as attendees signed-in, they admired the legacy of previous players from 1967 to the present hung all along the walls. Hotdogs, chips and desert were served while they socialized and browsed some of the silent auction items donated by local residents and businesses.
The Clinic offered a two-fold purpose of fund raising and informing local women of football terminology, uniform modeling, game rules and fun facts. This year's newly elected Kiwanis President is Elizabeth Nixon, a second year member and Chiropractor at Montgomery Chiropractic.
"We are a volunteer-based club that is involved in children's activities and changing the lives of children in our community," Nixon said. "A large portion of the proceeds are donated to Belton Christian Youth Center and the rest is donated toward middle school and high school leadership scholarships."
Nixon said that this year's clinic is to celebrate the opening of the new complex and to teach women, moms, sisters, teachers and friends about football so they can keep up with their husbands and sons and be a part of everything that is going on.
To start off the first session, 16 football coaches were introduced, followed by football coach and Athletic Director Rodney Southern presenting two football players that modeled the latest uniforms and most modern technology available today.
"We try our best to put your kids into the best equipment money can buy for successful safety and knowing that when they look good, they will feel good and play better," Head Coach Rodney Southern said. "Our helmets this year are the latest technology and are designed for the ear piece to be the best way to prevent concussion by minimizing whiplash."
Southern said that the middle school coaches will be on the sidelines this year at the football games as they are important to them because they want them to do it exactly the way they do it.
"We are trying to do everything that we can to win a state championship," Southern said. "We have 270 football players and they are all on live captured plays with no more recording and no loss of time to correct or instruct our players."
With this technology Southern said that he will be able to put their corrections into voice and hear the corrections that are coming instantly to be relayed to players on the field. These changes are intended to bring about a big edge of change but maintain the small town camaraderie.
"We have two coaches this year that were previous varsity players because it is important to us to bring back people that value what happens to people in a small town," Southern said. "We want all residents to understand that it is important to be a part of what we are doing."
Southern said what teenage boys learn here reaches them beyond football because it teaches them about adversity, getting knocked down and having to get back up.
Southern went on to teach the class about the number of players and positions on the field the red zone, kickers, wireless headset systems, code languages and answered questions.
Southern said the upgraded facility included locker rooms for boys and women's baseball/softball, tennis, track and cross country. The complex also has a hot tub and cold tub in the football sections with the best top-of-the-line weight room in Texas and holds a grand total of five hundred athletes.
The first session ended with a tour of the complex while several browsed the auction items and placed their bids. Kiwanis' volunteers Doug and Joan Dillard organized the event and gathered auction items donated. Some of the items included a Masters Touch photography package worth $384, a Nolan Ryan Baseball donated by Jerry Grote and four side-line passes donated by the athletic department for a $100 value.
"These people just gave from their hearts and most of them I did not even have to ask for it," Dillard said. "We are very fortunate to have a community that is so generous to our needy families."
Melissa Parker has served as BCYC's Executive Director for 11 years and she said the proceeds received are given as scholarship money for needy families that struggle to pay for their children's afterschool tuition.
"We are really blessed to live in Belton and have so many members to support programs that help the community like this," Parker said.
Followed by the second session and auction winner's announcements, Offensive Coordinator and Quarterback coach David Brewer said he is excited about football getting started this year.
"It is that time of year and there is nothing better in Texas and we have some great kids coming back and moving up from junior varsity this year," Brewer said. "This is my sixth year together with coach Southern and we look forward to seeing the continued talent of quarterback Peter Shelburne, tight end Durham Smythe and receiver Derrick Bates."
A football moms group meets every Monday evening at the complex. For more information visit www.bisd.net.
