Sacrificing Summer Selflessly for Sportsmanship

Seventeen students from Sussex County representing the Youth for School Libraries group and Upward Bound- Georgetown were invited to attend the 4th Annual Youth Sports Mini Conference & Football Jamboree at Claymont Elementary School, in Claymont Delaware on Saturday, August 9th, 2025. What does that mean? I will be honest, I didn’t know what that meant either but somewhere in my gut I knew it was important to have some of the most positive, talented, and potential-filled students I knew, to be mentors and co-conspirators in an event that would benefit themselves as well as benefit others as well. Before I go further, HUGE kudos to Coach J, Coach Joe, and Carmina Taylor for thinking of people they NEVER met, to bring us into their fold.

This is what I knew. Activities were put together to educate youth AND parents on the pitfalls and dangers of substance abuse and addiction on many levels. One main theme kept coming across from this event – “Coaches Are The Key To Collective Messaging and Collective Impact”. We found out, you do not have to be a coach in the literal sense as well, to motivate someone else, but there are athletic coaches that serve as magnets of positivity, sportsmanship, and doing the right thing and to keep you on the straight and narrow.

I am not built like the typical, physical coach, so my vocal power needs to come in another form, but the coaches represented at Saturday’s event were all business about keeping a VERY lively, young student group in the circle of what they needed to do to survive what can be an often brutal and unforgiving world. We realized how lucky students were to have adult mentors that would take time away from their summer to want to impact their lives in a better way. Some of the best behaved youth I have seen, soaking in aspects of life that could easily derail them, and yet being delivered through their mode of interest- sports and social media, occurred around us.

I have to say, the challenge was very real for our seventeen students that represented Sussex County. Many of our students had just come off an overnight trip from Upward Bound, others had called their day off work. Even more took time away from family, events on a Saturday to devote even more time to children from other families, to stand among them during an all-day event that demanded their physical, mental, and social presence. This all amid the goals to discuss topics that are usually presented to them in the halls, streets, and hidden away areas of their immediate communities. From substance abuse, dabbing, the impact of alcohol, drug use, subtance abuse, peer pressure, loss, to anything that can take the focus of their lives, let alone their literal lives, was touched upon.

We presented on how we could all map and know our communities:

It would be easy to keep patting these seventeen students on the back but it was said, “The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.” (Henry David Thoreau), In calling your attention to these Sussex County students who found themselves surrounded by younger students running, hyped up and excited beyond their own wildest dreams, surrounded by louder sounds than they normally would ever experience, saw alot of reinforcement and younger children struggling with attention, being redirected to focus their attention from the physical activities they were so good at to the mental attention needed to take in the message from adults they never knew and some they did know, and as Ms, Carmina Taylor put it, it is a different world. It being a different world applied to all present in many ways – ages activity, energy- Sussex County delving into the experiences of a camp in New Castle County, across county borders, age difference of high school versus elementary and middle school, single parent families and grandparents, aunts, and uncles as well as parents compared to two parent families, individuals confronted with decisions about substance use versus not being tempted by these distractions and so many more, it is much to take in. ALL in ONE day.

Was there chair kicking, some acting out behaviors, and shock at seeing a loud voice, an athletic/military, strong voice repeated and necessary to draw attention to youth and delving into the physical world of exercise and pushups to reinforce better habits.? I would say on a shock level of our students’ experience, seeing this was high in their surprise and reactions. Yet, not having been exposed to the reality of younger children’s lives on a daily and high number basis (for most) is indeed a shock, but more importantly, being AWARE of these children’s needs and knowing the value of having our representative student body, being a part of New Castle and Kent’s representative body for a day, even if younger and older students struggled with aspects of the day, was better than the alternative of not. Turning a blind eye to any of these youth, from any age, youngest to oldest, would be the most defining mistake as many have done already due to substance abuse.

I am VERY impressed with the young athletes and children that Sussex County students met and interacted with – something that would never normally happen without an invite from New Castle County mentors and coaches. It helped show that despite the inherent tendency to be pitted against each other based on county, the needs of youth from the STATE can be tackled and addressed only if we put the stereotypes, preconceptions, and feelings of privileges aside and work together as children, students, athletes, parents, teachers, leaders, coaches, and administrators tied to education.

From our BUS DRIVER Tamari who met our STUDENTS at 7:00 AM at Del Tech, Georgetown traveling to New Castle County, traveling through traffic about 2 1/2 hours to the mini conference, to the COACHES and PARENTS we met and who welcomed us at the doors of their Claymont Elementary School, and then put us in the mix of STUDENTS from all ages, backgrounds, varied levels of discipline, behavior, attention, and ability, to the PARENTS of these attending students from New Castle County to Sussex County, alot happened and alot was present to take in. Alot. There were aspects of the day that were struggles for everyone to work through, from the stories of parents who lost children to abuse or aunts and uncles that were parents because parents of those children succumbed to abuse, to student’s testimonies of losing a parent to abuse, to the onset of exhaustion from the directors of this conference to push through and get important messages to the youth, to the exhaustion of students to take in so much energy, cues of behavior, as well as direct their abilities to participating and being a mentor to someone next to them- that is just a small picture of the dynamics of what students and adults had to take in, during one day.

Yet, and let me say YET, everyone present did something that so many others not present did not. ALL sacrificed their time to each other to reinforce make an effort to be present in what might be uncomfortable topics, situations, behaviors and scenarios to support each other. When all could have been at the playground, the athletic field of choice, on a shopping day, a beach day, a sleep day, a play day, a rest day., wow. It is often easier to pick the latter, but whether the youth and adults realized it, the time they sacrificed for each other, when many would not, lends itself to the needs of so many of our youth that are in need of support that face our communities, and those willing to provide it. Not cities, not different counties, and not just as a state, but as a COMMUNITY, which knows no county, city, or municipality borders.

I cannot say enough about how proud I am of the young children that are athletes and students, the middle and high schools students who also willingly gave up a summer day so close to school for each other, and of course the parents of ALL the attendees, parents of the youth attending, as well as the coaches and mentors that willingly give up more than a WEEK (at least) to make this happen. This involves getting transportation to bring students from other counties to attend, as well as providing food, space, resources, athletic equipment and MORE to make one day occur. Not to mention the special speakers to ask to do the same, and organizational leaders to be present, to make this all happen.

Sometimes it has been said actions speak louder than words. That can go both ways as you know, causing positive and negative responses to actions all see around them. Our students from Sussex County put themselves into an unknown situation of people they never met from another county, and New Castle and Kent County did the same, and many served as key speakers, presenters, and participants in a Family Feud game among a myriad of other activities- all of those combined is alot to willingly expose yourself to on a summer day.

Let’s take a look at what youth from Kent and New County also had to do – they ALSO had to give up their summer day to listen to many older adults than them talk about topics and situations they often DID come into contact with, that are more than not positive topics they deal with every day. Often, their over-the-top-energy and need to be moving constantly might be their best way to deal with uncomfortable situations that they feel and do not know how to verbalize, so to deal with these situations they act out, speak out, or sometimes shut down due to the anxiety, fear, nervousness or sadness they are experiencing. I felt inside it was 100% important for all to experience these feelings to begin to understand each other, instead of judging each other. And that is where a fresh start can occur where as a state, we can meet each other and provide moments of support where we can support each other.

One of the students we brought from Sussex County, Mariela, told me a younger student came up to her and told her she did a GREAT job! It took her by surprise as a high school student, having a student half her age tell her that. Another moment was when she expressed frustration at a younger student was kicking her chair, talking and whispering crazy comments about his classroom experiences and distracting her during some of the testimonies of experiences from the presenting adults. I realized, and so did all the students there, to learn and to push through hard situations often does not involve lashing out at something/ or even the urge to pull away from a situation that causes you uncomfortability, anger, disappointment, or a sense of loss, but to find motivation to push through and find an inner strength to work through it, will not have its benefits until later, for yourself as an individual as well as all those that surround us, a community. To do this, defies the misstep of the impacts of stereotyping, acting as someone of privilege around others, dealing with acts of harassment, sexism, racism, bigotry, being overwhelmed and seduced by social media, and more. Life is too short to be caught up in these pitfalls as we sadly find out later and lose the ability to impacts someone else’s life positively.

Yet, in one day, so many individuals decided to not be counted as individuals and power through many challenges to work as a community. With or without being involved in a sport, that is the true definition of sportsmanship. Kudos to everyone, from 6 years old to 70 years old that were part of this day. It certainly changes the landscape of what our futures can be.