NAYS Blog

Florence County (S.C.) youth baseball team adopts military dad deployed in Saudi Arabia as its honorary coach

5/24/2010

Military families deal with the harsh reality of being separated from their loved ones on a daily basis. During these tough times deployed individuals often seek solace in the packages and letters they receive from friends and family, or in the case of Sergeant Freddie Davis, from his son’s youth baseball team.
 
Davis’ son Micah and his teammates on the Small Fry division A’s of the Delmae (S.C.) Baseball league are showing their support to Davis, an Army Sergeant stationed in Saudi Arabia, by sending him care packages and letters throughout the season. The A’s have adopted Davis as their “honorary coach” for the season and are showing him their support through their letters and packages.
 
“We hope that we can do this every year and let the military know how much we appreciate and support what they are doing for us,” said David Hudson, vice president of Delmae Baseball. “The kids and coaches were very happy to do this for someone serving our country.”
 
Hudson got the idea to adopt an honorary coach from the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS), the volunteer coach education organization which he uses to train his coaches. NAYS has been urging all its chapters to support deployed military from their respective areas through their youth sports leagues, particularly in communities where players’ parents or coaches may be the ones deployed.
 
Already aware that Micah’s father was deployed overseas, Hudson quickly got involved as soon as he heard about this initiative. Along with updates on how the team is doing, the A’s have sent Davis a care package full of assorted items such as baseballs, a coach’s hat and a coach’s shirt.
 
“We just hope that Freddie and his entire brigade get home safe and that he will always be a coach with our league, and to thank his family for all of their support this year,” Hudson said.
 
Delmae Baseball is a part of the Florence County Parks and Recreation Department and serves about 280 children from the Florence County area. The Florence County Parks and Recreation Department has been a NAYS affiliated chapter since 1986, and has been using its various training programs and services to enrich their youth sports programs ever since.
 
This initiative to adopt an honorary coach is providing communities like Florence County with a unique way to stay in touch with deployed individuals from their area, as well as providing teams with a meaningful and productive activity.
 
NAYS hopes all of its chapters follow the lead of Delmae Baseball by supporting a deployed individual from their community. This wonderful initiative is just another example of how positive youth sports can not only be beneficial for participating youth, but also for entire communities.
 
For information on how to adopt a deployed serviceman or servicewoman from your community contact NAYS at (800) 688-KIDS or email ashilling@nays.org.

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