TEAM JAM
Visits Motor City
Atlanta Falcons vs. Detroit Lions

Amidst our daily efforts of visiting schools, counseling youth with legal troubles, aiding athletes in getting scholarships or pro contracts, and teaching young men about God, we scheduled a very special group outing for twelve area young men. On December 19th, four men assisted John in taking these young men to Detroit, Michigan to see the Atlanta Falcons play the Detroit Lions. Many of these young men had never seen an NFL game in person. Some were at the pinnacle of their athletic career, some were in the middle of overcoming serious injury. A few were gifted young athletes with no idea of what is ahead of them, especially looking for guidance in choosing a college. Others were beginning to learn how to be leaders who had a positive impact on their community. All of them had special needs to be addressed over the weekend.

detroitone.jpg (44871 bytes)

Ed Smith of the Atlanta Falcons arranged for us to get the tickets. Ed was once in John's church youth group in New Jersey and uses his platform to this day to have a positive influence on today's young people. The night before the game, Ed spent over an hour and a half with these TEAM JAM young men, explaining how he got to where he is today and how much importance God plays in his life. His patience in dealing with questions, addressing issues that he knew our guys face daily, and his humbleness amidst his accomplishments, made this a very impressive presentation. Every eye was focused on Ed, half of the guys were sitting there with their mouths draped open, and most never moved a muscle throughout Ed's talk.

detroittwo.jpg (43015 bytes)

Due to the experience we have gained from previous trips, we were able to arrange staying in the very same hotel and on the same floor as the Atlanta Falcons. This afforded our athletes tremendous accommodations and frequent access to other athletes and coaches. For a young high school athlete, this was like a dream come true!

Dion (from Medina) initiated conversation with Jamaal Anderson, the Falcons All-Pro running back in the hotel lobby, as well as getting his autograph on a football. "Jam", was kind of enough to spend over 20 minutes with several of our athletes once they saw Dion talking to him. A.J. (Arie), also from Medina, must have collected over 20 autograph's, including that of Hall of Fame (and Falcons coach), Art Shell. Arie looked the massive Shell in the eye as he walked up to him! I'm sure Mr. Shell would never have guessed Arie is only in the ninth grade! Jeff, our Hudson football coach who graciously came along to video the trip for us, also found a unique experience. He was able to sit in the back of one of the small conference rooms the day of the game as the defensive coaches went over the game plan. Part of that preparation involved watching Barry Sanders filmclips, highlighting play after play of his great breakaway talent. That will be an impressive tidbit to drop during next year's practices at Hudson!

Everyone was finding a special part of the experience to enjoy. But along with the entertainment came a number of meaningful conversations. In addition to conversations in the vans on the way up and back, over meals and in hotel rooms, we arranged for a devotional from the Bible on Saturday night before everyone went to bed. There, John explained why God is so special, why Christ needs to be first in their lives, and how to have a personal relationship with Christ as the LORD of their lives. All the young men were extremely responsive. Some had been responding to such lessons in the weeks and months leading up to this event. Others had never heard much about God before we started building into their lives this year. Two young men in particular chose that night to give God complete control over their lives, asking Him to change their ways and forgive them for the way they had been living. These were powerful moments in their lives . . . and ours!

The next day was filled with the ball game, new experiences around professional athletes and a lot of personal discussions. These young men spread the word when they got home with their parents and classmates about what a tremendous time they had and what they learned about God. Some even learned valuable lessons about obedience to rules and authorities after trying to experience a couple of extra "liberties". (an inevitable part of human development!)

Still the highlight of the trip was the young men themselves. We had city kids and suburb kids. We had white kids from the city and black kids from the suburb. We had freshman in high school and sophomores in college. We had non-believers, new believers and a young man or two who had grown up knowing about God all their lives. We had young men who had been associated with TEAM JAM for a few weeks and others who had been associated with us for several years. We even had John's youth pastor from his high school years in the 70's along as well (Paul Loney and his son Michael). It was a trip that included adults mentoring young men, and young men mentoring their younger peers. For the observer, one could see all John's and TEAM JAM's ministry efforts over the past 15 years encapsulated in one weekend.

detroitfour.jpg (95559 bytes)

AND YOU CAN EXPERIENCE IT TOO!! Jeff has finished his editing to show all that we experienced as well as all that is involved in the development of a young life. It will show how it many times involves travel over several state lines, over many, many years, costing anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, and resulting in a wide range of successes. On this video you will hear about young men who struggled with surviving, studying, their families, their accomplishments, and with being receptive to God. For the first time, we now have a cross section representation of all our experiences, through the eyes and mouths of the young men themselves . . . both as they look back and in the midst of the actual experience!

We are fortunate to be sitting on the front row of the game of life, building a legacy that will outlast our temporary existence. God is doing the bulk of the work, but we are trying our best to help.


TEAM JAM guest List:
To see The Atlanta Falcons vs. Detroit Lions

Adults

  • Tim Loney            TEAM JAM Board Member.
                               TRBL Marketing(in Columbus)

  • John Saucier        TEAM JAM Director

  • Landon Hackim   TEAM JAM Intern. Professional
                               Basketball Player

  • Pete Murdough   Hudson High School grad. His father is
                               Step 2 owner

  • Jeff Hildebrand    Hudson High School football coach.
                               Videotaped this event for us.

Youth

  • Bill Green Hudson High School football player (11th grade)

  • Josh Holden First team all-state running back. Hudson High school.

  • Joe Wittenburg Hudson High school senior fullback.

  • Brett Ameche Hudson football and basketball player (11th grade)

  • Steve Sorenson Hudson High School junior basketball player (6'7").

  • Greg Lewis Junior college All-American in basketball (Texas)

  • Arie Sturgess Freshman football player, Medina H.S. (6'5" 300 lb.)

  • Charlie McKee Akron Garfield junior basketball player (6'7").

  • Deon Baines Medina High School senior tailback.

  • Dave Harris Brunswick H.S. senior. State Champ 100/200 meters.

  • Record setting tailback. (Knee injury to start _98 season).

  • Brian Kolin Kent State U. decathalete. Brunswick H.S. grad.

  • Brian and Dave decided to trust Christ as their savior on this trip.

Back to Irv Smith Page

Back to Team Jam Home Page