By BROOKLYN BROWN BIGMEAT
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The Cherokee Youth Football program has had a standout season, with the peewees and mites teams going undefeated and competing in the Cracker Bowl Saturday, Oct. 24, and the termites and midgets teams having strong finishes as well.
Mites Head Coach Israel Rodriguez has been coaching Cherokee mites football for six years and the head coach for two years. “I’ve grown passionate about this group of kids since I started…Coaching for me is about more than teaching football. It’s more about the positive influence in these kids’ lives and teaching them discipline, accountability, teamwork and helping them grow into good young men. I think that’s what makes coaching rewarding for me.”
Rodriguez says his group of players have formed a special bond. “This group, they’ve been together since peewees, and they’ve won Cracker Bowl after Cracker Bowl and they’ve stuck together and they’ve just been unstoppable. I think they’re kind of building that momentum up because they’re getting up to midgets, then eventually they’ll be up to JVs and varsity. And I think that’s where it really gets exciting because the last state [championship] team was 2017 and it’s been a while, so, I think it’s about time something like it comes through.”
Rodriguez continued, “We’ve only given up 18 points all season, and six of those points was on our defense and six was on kickoff and six was on our second and third string. So, that tells you how good our boys are. I think coming into this year, our biggest goal was to just build on what we accomplished last year and just continue to develop these kids…I think we’ve been fortunate to have a lot of success on the field, but I’m pleased with the growth out of each one of these kids and their confidence and understanding of the game and ability to work together has improved a lot.”
Rodriguez added that Cherokee Recreation Youth Sports and Events Coordinator Timmy Ray Smith has been instrumental in revitalizing the Cherokee Youth Football program.
Smith said he previously worked in the position for 14 years, before taking a hiatus and coming back to rebuild what he said the late Dave McCoy had built years prior. “Dave McCoy had built a really good program, and I wanted to keep it going. But then I noticed it fell off here in the last few years and then they came to me and asked me if I wanted to apply for the job. Nobody had applied for it, so I applied for it and got it. But for me, I’ve got grandkids now, but with my kids growing up, I just wanted to get the best out of each and every one of them and not just my kids, all of them. And we’ve got so much talent here. Coach [TC] Guyer, the [Cherokee Braves] high school coach, he’s been quoted as saying besides A.C. Reynolds and Asheville, Cherokee’s got the best talent in western North Carolina.”
Smith continued, “I just want to use ours as a feeder program. And I know we’ve got kids that go to Swain and Sylva both. I want them to all come to Cherokee, but I know that some of them are not. But I want those coaches at the other places to say, ‘Hey, we don’t have to worry about them Cherokee kids, they’re coming in fundamentally sound.’ And that’s all I ask for my coaches is to do the fundamentals, and the talent will take care of itself if they do the fundamentals.”
Smith said the coaches, players, and parents have contributed to the success of the program. “I’m just proud. I’m proud of our parents for sticking with it. And these two teams that we have in the Cracker Bowl – I think we only had maybe one player off each team quit since we signed up – everybody stuck it out…I give all the credit to the kids and the parents and the coaches. I don’t want to take any credit. I just set up the rules and regs and talk to my coaches and set up the things that I think would make them successful.”
Smith added, “I love my job. This is the best job that I’ve ever had because I get to deal with the kids and I get to be around sports all the time, but everybody has bought in for the most part and just knock on wood, we’ll keep going straight ahead.”
Emre Johnson, one of the parents committing her weekends to Cherokee Youth Football, says her players are hungry for the Cracker Bowl. “My son plays on the peewees (#12) and my nephew plays on mites (#44). It’s my son’s first year playing football, and we were kind of unsure at the beginning. Fast forward to today, the coaches have done an amazing job with these peewees! But they’re not finished yet, they’re hungry for that Cracker Bowl Championship! Go Braves!”
