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Camp blends faith, football
Photo by Regan Hill
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Published: July 19, 2009
The five dozen kids who gathered on the makeshift gridiron at Statesville Middle School did so to learn about football. But if the event's sponsors were successful, they came away from the experience with a lot more.
For three consecutive days ending Saturday, the boys ran plays, caught passes, assumed three-point stances, blocked and tackled.
During the mini-camp the youngsters — aged 7 to 17 — sweat in the mid-summer heat and went through gallons and gallons of sports drinks. And they heard about the game of football from men who have played it at every level.
The event was put on by a Statesville Christian organization called Power Cross, whose motto is "Play hard. Pray harder."
Power Cross is the brainchild of Jeff and Natalie Storment, whose strategy is to use sports — an activity most boys have a natural interest in — as a kind of catalyst to change the direction the kids are heading in.
"Our goal is that while kids can still be strong and tough," Natalie Storment said, "they can also have a relationship with God."
For their football camp, the Storments enlisted the help of another Christian group called Athletes to Champions, whose impressive work was the raising of funds for the construction of a football field in Barrow, Alaska.
The camp was headed up by Carl Parker, an Athletes to Champions mentor and former professional football player who had two brief stints in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals.
"This is part of our ministry," Parker said. "It is a privilege to be able to do these because our belief is that athletics can change the lives of kids."
Parker said most of the kids he deals with are from households where there is only a mother, and because of that, they never really learn the basic skills of being a responsible man.
"Football is part of it, but I tell them to shake hands when they meet people, be respectful and courteous, look people in the eyes when they are speaking to them, sit in the front row in class and focus," Parker said. "A lot of these kids have never had anyone tell them those things."
Along with Parker, campers received instruction from six college football players, including Parker's son Kyle Parker — a quarterback at Clemson — and Quan Rucker, a West Iredell High School graduate and freshman at Wake Forest.
"This has been a great experience for me," Rucker said. "I think any time you can have a positive impact on a person's life, especially a young person's life, that's a good thing."
Kyle Parker said it was a joy to follow in his father's footsteps, both on the field and in the ministry.
"It's just great to be able to help these kids," he said. "I love going out there and being able to give back. I just hope this impacts them and has a good influence on their lives."
Qualin Keaton, a rising sixth-grader at SMS, said he was glad he attended the camp.
"It was great to come here," he said. "We learned all about football, like holding the ball on the inside — they can't knock it out of your hands.
But that was only part of it, Qualin said.
"We also talked about school and keeping up the grades," he said. "And that when you talk to people, you try to bring them up, not bring them down."
At 17, DeShaun Pegram was the senior statesman of the campers.
Pegram, a quarterback at West Iredell High School, said he "learned some new techniques" about how to handle the ball.
"But I also learned the importance of being a role model," he said. "And that other kids might look up to you and that you should teach them to do the right thing."
Cathy Parker is Carl's wife and an organizer with Athletes to Champions.
She said the group operates with the understanding that a community always has a price to pay when dealing with its youth.
"You can pay it now, when they are young by helping them change their mindsets," she said. "Or you can pay it later by building more jails and things like that."
The Storments said Power Cross is funded entirely through private donations. Those wishing to make a contribution or to find out more about the organization can contact the couple at (704) 902-1653.
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