WINDSOR — Take a stroll just north of Main Street in Windsor during your typically weekday evening this fall.
You might see Windsor High School football coach Chris Jones and his staff teaching young, impressionable teenagers how to run, block and tackle.
In reality, they strive to teach much more.
They want to teach these young men how to be caring, compassionate and successful adults.
Nearly 2,000 miles away — on the other side of the country — Darren Rhym and the rest of the Columbia High School football coaching staff strive to do the same, albeit under very different circumstances and greatly heightened financial restraints within a small, rural town in North Carolina.
In recent months, the two football programs have become united through the sport they love, and through one everlasting friendship.
In early-June, the full assortment of 100-plus players on Windsor’s roster took up a collection and raised some money to buy their Columbia counterparts practice jerseys — placing more money aside to either assist the Wildcats in the future or simply purchase some Windsor Wizards gear to send the Columbia players’ way.
Jones’ and Rhym’s friendship goes back decades.
The Windsor High School football team helped raise money to buy new practice jerseys for a team in North Carolina. (Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)
They trace their roots back to New Jersey. And, in addition to so many other things, they both share a passion for football.
So when a mutual friend of theirs recently mentioned to Jones that Rhym was now teaching in Columbia — and had decided to volunteer as an assistant coach for the 30-player Wildcats high school football program — Jones immediately reached out.
“He quickly asked, ‘Is there anything you need, anyway I can help, anything we can do to help?’ ” Rhym said of his conversation with Jones.
It turns, there was plenty Jones and the Wizards program could do.
The Columbia Wildcats have had to undergo a complete rebuilding effort since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“After COVID, our program was almost totally decimated,” said Rhym, who coaches the offensive and defensive lines at Columbia. “This is only my second year at Columbia High School (and first year coaching). … I don’t believe they had a program the previous two years.”
The Windsor High School football team recently donated practice jerseys to the Columbia High School football team in North Carolina. (Darren Rhym/Courtesy)
Though Jones’ Wizards here in Windsor have become a perennial powerhouse at the 4A and 3A levels since Jones took over the program in 2007, Jones recalls the program wasn’t always the envy of other programs in the area and throughout the state.
In fact, a couple decades ago, Jones said his program had much more in common with Columbia’s current program than not.
In search of a commitment from its student-athletes, support from the community and the proper gear, facilities and equipment needed to create a positive, winning culture, Jones remembers he was just looking for some hope when he first took over the program.
Through this simple yet profound gesture toward the Columbia Wildcats, Jones and his Windsor Wizards program want to provide some hope to Columbia’s retooling program.
Rhym admits that he, the rest of the Wildcats coaching staff and its couple dozens players just couldn’t fathom that another high school program all the way on the other side of the country could care this much.
“For lack of a better description, it was hard for us to make sense of it,” said Rhym, who also teaches English at Columbia. “The sport of football is often so competitive that you’re used to teams, if they have an edge, keeping the edge.”
The Windsor High School football team goes through drills during a practice on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024 in Windsor. The team raised money to buy practice jerseys for a football team in North Carolina that includes many players from underserved populations.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)
Windsor certainly has an edge over its opponents most the time it takes the field. Jones and company are happy to help the Wildcats try to develop an edge of their own after years of being your classic underdog.
Columbia, North Carolina, is a tiny town of 604 with mostly financially challenged but hardworking families.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in Columbia is $19,551.
Rhym explained the Wildcats, particularly post-COVID, face challenges related to the economic difficulties of their area. The team also often encounters academic challenges.
Rhym recalls that when he first began coaching at Columbia, he discovered the players practicing merely in shoulder pads, sans practice jersey.
Still, Rhym admits, when Jones initially mentioned the idea of him and his program helping fund practice gear for the Columbia Wildcats, Rhym was a tad hesitant.
The Columbia High School Wildcats football team display one of their jerseys. (Darren Rhym/Courtesy)
“(Jones) said, ‘Hey, would you mind if we do something to help you out?’ ” Rhym recalled. “I initially was going to say, ‘Well, no. We don’t want any charity. We’re proud folk, and these kids are pretty tough.’
“But (Jones) convinced me that this is a gesture that would be as helpful to (the Wizards) as it would be to us. … They wanted to do the right thing and wanted to help.”
Jones and Rhym share a similar philosophy of wanting to build character within their football teams — or, as Jones puts it, molding his athletes into the type of people you would be proud to call your neighbor.
Columbia and Windsor may be far from neighbors geographically, but they are certainly developing a similar type of bond.
In addition to the fundraising efforts, Jones said his Wizards team also plans to don a helmet sticker this season, displaying the Wildcats’ logo.
Further providing Windsor’s players and coaches a reason to rally behind their newly acquired companions on the East Coast, Columbia lost a player to a heart condition over the summer.
“We talked about it one day, and I said, ‘I don’t know what it would be like to come into this room and have one of you guys gone,’ ” Jones said, detailing a conversation he had with his team. “And everybody looked around and (agreed). It was a moment where it allowed us to see who is important and what is important.”
The Windsor High School football team goes through interceptions drills during practice on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. The team raised money to help a team in North Carolina to get new practice jerseys.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)
Senior offensive lineman Cash Carson said he could feel his team growing closer through their efforts to aid their new friends in North Carolina.
“It really builds team camaraderie to be able to commit to something bigger than yourself,” Carson said. “Coach Jones always talks about how you don’t represent yourself; you represent your family. And when we were told that we can go help out this team, I thought, ‘Well, that’s awesome. We’re helping represent Windsor’s family and the football community.’
“… It’s not just about football. It’s a community here.”
Junior defensive/offensive lineman John Stephens views this gesture as a simple example of him and his teammates giving what they are able to give to another collection of student-athletes who share the same passion for football.
“I have been very fortunate to be blessed with, on this team and my past teams, all the equipment that we’ve had,” Stephens said. “But there are teams that aren’t as blessed as we are. So, I’m happy and proud for those (Columbia) kids, because those kids chose to play a sport instead of getting into stuff like drugs, drinking, alcohol — just nasty, terrible stuff.
“I’m really happy they’re getting into, and committing to, a sport instead. Why would I not want to help these guys?”
The Windsor High School football team works on kickoffs during a practice on Aug. 21, 2024, in Windsor. The team gave back and raised money for a team in North Carolina to get new practice jerseys.(Jim Rydbom/Staff Photographer)
Windsor defensive coordinator Michael Thompson has also maintained close contact with the staff in Columbia. And he said he’s seen his players at Windsor really adopt a vested interest toward Columbia that extends well beyond just assuring the Wildcats have the proper gear in which to practice.
“(The Wildcats) are across the nation right now, but we still have that connection,” Thompson said. “We’re going to be watching their games. Hopefully, they’re watching our games. We’re rooting them on. They’re rooting us on. It’s a fact that they had a need, and we’re able to provide that need. So it’s an easy choice for us.”
Rhym is quick to point out that as much as coaches like himself, Thompson and Jones would like to develop quality football players, their bigger goal is helping these young men become the type of adults who will never pass on an opportunity to help the people and the community around them grow and thrive.
“We see this as the ultimate display of respect and sportsmanship,” Rhym said of the Wizards’ budding relationship with his Columbia Wildcats. “This is truly what football, sportsmanship and high school athletics are all about — going the extra mile, helping your teammates. We feel (the Wizards) have done everything in their power to try and give us an opportunity to be as successful and as competitive as their program is.
“It’s kind of like the big brother trying to help the little brother get his feet on the ground.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-24 19:00:00
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