Editor’s note: Broncos rookie cornerback Domonique Foxworth is sharing his thoughts and experiences with readers in a weekly journal throughout the season. Foxworth encourages support of the Ambassadors for Literacy program for youth. For more about the program, go to www.ambassadorsforliteracy.net.
Saturday Kyle Johnson, the Broncos’ sure-handed fullback, and I were guests at the Montbello Northeast Tigers youth football banquet. After offering a few words of scholastic and athletic encouragement, we watched the young men accept their awards while proud parents snapped photographs that will one day become priceless mementos.
We listened attentively while coaches recalled with detail contributions of each player. I couldn’t help but be reminded of my experiences in Baltimore’s youth football leagues. Despite generational and regional differences between these young players and me, the similarities in our youth football experiences are undeniable.
Like them, I had no idea of the many lessons and invaluable life skills that were being instilled in me. Losing the Maryland Pop Warner state championship at 8 years old seemed devastating at the time, but it was my first lesson in dealing with adversity. In the following years, my team was able to win two state titles and make a run at the national title at Disney World. What then seemed to simply be a bunch of wins and a lot of fun actually was kids learning and displaying the essence of true teamwork.
A sense of community involvement and service also can be absorbed by impressionable young sportsmen, as demonstrated through the commitment and passion of volunteer coaches. I understand now that knowingly or not, children who play sports are provided a blueprint for future success.
Youth sports teaches more than winning and losing. Perseverance, focus, drive, discipline, communication skills, time management and accountability all are byproducts of participating in youth competition. The attributes I obtained in youth sports carried me to the NFL, and those same attributes pay off for other former young athletes in boardrooms, operating rooms, courtrooms and classrooms.
