A new local football team needs help from the community before the fall football season begins.
This is the first year for the Waco Seminoles, a nonprofit football organization for kids ages four through 12. The team is a part of the Amateur Athletic Association South Texas District. Team owner and head coach Alvin Smith said they have about 20 kids in total for both the football team and cheer squad. However, Smith said he needs at least 75 children to sign up to participate.
"The main thing is we just need bodies. We just need kids to just come out here and just have fun. Build on teamwork. Build on discipline and build on helping out our community,” Smith said.
Brick by brick, Smith along with the team’s board members are trying to make a difference for local children with few opportunities. Seminoles board members Jeffery and Ruth said their family was active with youth football programs in the past, so they jumped on board when Smith presented the idea.
“It’s fun and exciting because it’s something new and something fresh and it’s an all-inclusive team where everyone’s included, Waco Seminoles Cheer Director Ruth Bucher said. “That’s what’s really important…being a part of something special.”
At the team’s practice at Lake Air Montessori School on Saturday morning, Bucher alongside her daughter Caryn taught cheers and gave high fives to young girls. Smith along with assistants coached the football team with not just exercises, but positive lessons he’s learned through his service as a military veteran and Waco Police officer.
“I try to use the same skill sets I learned when I was in the military, which is a team first attitude,” Smith said. “We’re here for everybody. No man stands alone. Nobody fights alone.”
Smith isn’t in the fight alone. He along with the team’s board members and parents said they’re seeking community help to further their goal. Smith said that as a nonprofit that it takes the community and donations so that the kids can have equipment and a place to play ball.
“We need donations as far as getting equipment,” Smith said.
He said he’s trying to reach out to local school districts and businesses who are interested in giving back. And giving back is something he hopes to instill in the kids who join the Waco Seminoles.
“The Waco Seminoles is just not a football organization. We're not just a cheerleading organization. We're a community,” Smith said.
Parents who wish to sign their kids up for the Seminoles can do so by swinging by the Academy Sports and Outdoors at 210 N New Road on July 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information about the Waco Seminoles, visit their social media site.
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