Gainesville State-Grapevine Faith Follow Up [Archive]

Matthew328

11-04-2009, 07:00 AM

http://www.star-telegram.com/358/story/1726848.html

The link above is the follow up to the great story involving Grapevine Faith and Gainesville State School. A great story but the end had a heart breaking story about a 16 year old kid named Theodore. I read it and it really touched me.

Richard Wallace Jr., assistant pastor at Temple Baptist Church in Flower Mound, did not know Gainesville State existed until he read about last year’s game.

Now, more than 20 members of his church are meeting one of the facility’s greatest needs by serving as mentors, visiting for two hours every other week.

One couple was assigned an inmate who had not had a visit in 18 months. During their first meeting, the teen asked the couple if he could call them "Mom and Dad."

Wallace and his wife, Michelle, were assigned Theodore, a 16-year-old who had been in the facility for a year without a visitor.

When the Wallaces arrived to meet Theodore, they were disappointed to learn that he was "in security" and would not be allowed to visit.

The Wallaces were told that Theodore had been attacked by another inmate. But instead of fighting back, Theodore so wanted to keep his visitation privileges that he stood there and took the beating in hopes someone would step in and stop the fight. When no one did, Theodore took off running and wound up being placed in security.

"Michelle and I just started weeping," Wallace said. "He got beat up just for the opportunity to possibly talk to us."

Matthew328

11-04-2009, 07:46 AM

http://www.star-telegram.com/highschools/story/1734436.html

Here's a little happier tale:

By DAVID THOMAS

dthomas@star-telegram.com

GAINESVILLE — Walt Scott is in his fourth year at Gainesville State School. This is his first season as head coach.

"It has been probably one of the most challenging and interesting things that I have done," said Scott, who has coached football 36 years in Texas.

This is a job, the 59-year-old says, that he could not have held as a young coach, when he was headstrong and prideful.

Ego, says first-year assistant coach Rick Smith, does not serve a coach well inside the maximum-security correctional facility.

"If you think you’re going to get your ego stroked by coming here," said Smith, who has head coaching experience in a variety of sports, "you’re at the wrong place."

The Gainesville State Tornadoes wrap up their season Friday night when they play at Grapevine Faith. With a 1-7 record, this will be another losing season. The Tornadoes have not had a winning season since 1994, when they finished 5-4 in the program’s second year.

Football, like just about everything else, is different at Gainesville State.

A year ago this week, the game in which Faith Lions fans treated the Tornadoes as though they were the home team began introducing people all across the nation to Gainesville State football.

Because the school is different. It is a prison. Because the students are different. They are convicted criminals, ages 12-19.

And that makes football at Gainesville State different.

Competitive challenges

For their next realignment, TAPPS officials have dropped Gainesville State from Division I — for TAPPS’ largest schools — into Division III. The move has been widely praised for addressing an overwhelming numbers disadvantage.

The Tornadoes had 14 players for their game last Friday night against Addison Trinity Christian. The undefeated Trojans typically suit up about 55 players and had 70 for that game. Only two players start on both offense and defense.

"I’ll tell you the truth — it’s hard," quarterback/defensive back T. Wesley said. (School officials do not release players’ full names for confidentiality purposes.)

Although Gainesville State’s population is about 275, only a small number of those are allowed to participate in football. And even fewer are eligible to leave campus for games.

To earn off-campus privileges, a student must have served half of his sentence, maintain satisfactory grades and meet stringent behavior requirements.

Not only do Tornadoes coaches have a small number of players to work with, but the roster also constantly turns over.

Ask Scott during the middle of the week how many players he will have for that Friday’s game and he will say it is too early to ask.

Even on Friday afternoons, he can’t be sure. Once this season, Scott had a player pulled off the team bus at the facility’s double gate because he had been involved in a dorm incident an hour earlier.

There is one category of in-season player losses, however, that coaches boast about: players who leave because their sentences have ended.

Graduations at Gainesville State happen every week.

"Our job," Scott says, "is to get these kids out of here and back home."

Satisfaction amid difficulties

Few Gainesville State players played junior high football. Rarely do coaches have a player who had played in high school.

"When I first got here, it was hugely frustrating," Scott said. "But the longer I’ve been in, the more I understand that we have to coach these kids up. And we’ve got to understand that it’s got to be real basic. Real, real simple."

Even players putting pads in their pants demonstrates the lack of football experience.

Until about a month ago, the first half hour of Monday practices was spent helping players lace up their belts and put the pads from their black game pants back into their white practice pants. That is about a three-minute task for a typical player.

With only one hour per day and four hours per week of practice time — less than half of most opponents’ weekly practice time — coaches finally decided to have players practice in shorts all week and leave the pad stuffing and belt lacing for game days.

Then there are the ever-changing state-mandated regulations that affect player eligibility.

The teasing and ridicule players take from their peers for losing so much and, often, by so much.

The bare minimum equipment, with much of what the Tornadoes do have coming from donations, including from opponents.

The lack of an athletics budget or a sport-specific booster club to raise money. "I’ve made requests for jerseys for four years in a row, and we ain’t got them," Scott said. "Those white jerseys are getting pretty thin."

But despite all the difficulties, the coaches keep coaching and the players keep playing.

"I’ve never had greater joy and satisfaction out of coaching a group of kids than this group here," Smith said.

A different kind of game

Gainesville State Superintendent Gwan Hawthorne understands the coaches’ and players’ frustrations. She is, after all, still a football mom. Her son, David, was a linebacker at TCU and now plays for the Seattle Seahawks.

She knows the coaches and players want to win, although most weeks that is not realistic. But she also knows that football at Gainesville State is different.

"It’s not about the big win," Hawthorne said. "It’s about the lessons learned."

And that is one reason why Tornadoes players have anticipated this week’s game at Grapevine Faith all season. This game has become like a Homecoming game.

A. Martinez, a student-manager this year because he is too old to play, remembers the love he felt from Faith fans and players last season.

"I’m looking forward to going and watching my team playing against them again so they can experience what I had last year," he said. "The good things people did for us — I want them to experience the same thing."

J. White has been telling this year’s players how much they will enjoy playing against Faith.

"I tell them to expect that there’s going to be a lot of people sitting on our side," he said with a big smile, as the images from last year’s game played through his mind. "And it’s more than the people sitting on your side. You’ve got people to root for you."

This game especially, White said, is not all about winning.

"The scoreboard is going to be the scoreboard. That’s just numbers," he said. "It’s all about going out and having fun."

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Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Where: The Jungle, Grapevine Faith campus, 730 Cannon St., Grapevine.

Tickets: Adults $6, seniors and students $4, under 5 free. Available in advance at www.GrapevineFaith.com.

Parking: A large crowd is expected, and stadium parking is limited. Additional parking is available at Faith’s future campus at 729 E. Dallas Rd. Shuttles will run from 5:30-11 p.m.

Things to know

The fans’ spirit line for Gainesville State players will begin forming at 7:15 p.m. Those sitting on the Gainesville State side are asked to support the Tornadoes by wearing their school colors of black and white.

"Hands and Feet Outreach:" New ankle socks and winter gloves will be collected to be donated to Gainesville State students.

Fans are asked to be mindful of Gainesville State’s security presence and honor all requests of security personnel.