'Blue Chips' helps athletes take the lead in giving back
As sports fans, we tend to view athletes as commodities. How good a player is he? How fast? How big? How strong?
We observe them almost exclusively on game nights, and concern ourselves mostly with wins, losses and performance.
What's lost amid the game-time excitement and expectations is the fact that these are real people. Not just players. They are sons and daughters, friends and classmates. They are young people learning valuable life lessons. They are tomorrow's generation.
Blue Chips For Life, Inc. understands the essence of sports goes far beyond touchdowns and jump shots and victories. Team athletics are a training ground, a blueprint for the future. High school sports are a vehicle for developing traits that impact people's lives far beyond the playing field..
That's why BCFL is not just about making better athletes. It's about making better people. Because athletic careers are temporary and fleeting. Character and leadership skills last a lifetime.
"We help young kids become better leaders," said Steve Gregory, BCFL founder and President. "Through team sports, we teach them social responsibility in ways that improve their self-esteem."
BCFL does so in a truly admirable way -- by teaching youth the importance of giving back to society through community involvement. There's a sports connection there, of course. Just as the best players on each team are those who also practice the hardest, the best citizens are often those who are most involved in their community.
"As a kid, I never wanted to get involved in volunteering; my dad forced me," Gregory said. "But every time I finished a project, I always felt so much better about myself. I wanted to bottle that feeling, that great self-esteem boost you get."
He's been spreading the feeling for two years now among area schools, mostly through football. Last year's camp included football players from Geneva, Marmion, Naperville North, Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley, Oswego East, Plainfield North and several junior high school programs.
Last week, a pair of Marmion athletes was awarded the 2007 Blue Chip of the Year Award as the involvement leaders. Nick Zuccarini volunteered 96 hours last year -- that's the equivalent of 12 work days for us 9-to-5 types -- and Johnathon Koechley donated 76 hours, more than three times the requirement.
Now that's leadership. By taking the initiative to go above and beyond, Zuccarini, Koechley and many others like them who put in so many hours, they're already well on their way. They typify what BCFL is all about.
"We're trying to convince kids that this is a cool thing to do," Gregory said. "What's consistent at every school is that there are leaders and followers in every classroom. We want to convert more of those followers into leaders who can make strong decisions on their own.
"Think about it -- in football, championship teams don't have just one or two leaders -- they have 14 or 15 leaders who know what it takes and do the right things."
Gregory, a former quarterback who played under Lou Holtz at the University of Arkansas, also emphasized the value coaches deliver. Far beyond game plans and lineups, they provide inspiration and insights that develop into transferable skills.
BCFL doesn't neglect the importance of responsibility. Dave Hilderbrand, captain of the Naperville police department, offers a "sobering" slide show that illustrates how one bad decision can jeopardize an athlete's chances for a college scholarship.
"Next time you're at a party holding up that 40-ounce (beer bottle), remember that everyone has a camera phone," Hilderbrand advised in one power-point example. "That picture will be on MySpace the next day, and there goes your scholarship."
"There are so many lessons to be learned from sports," Gregory said. "In sports you prepare for an opponent similar to how you'd prepare for a business meeting (in the real world). You learn how to work together with people and how to overcome adversity and challenges."
From a modest beginning in 2006, when just over 30 kids participated, BCFL appears to be on the cusp of huge expansion. Participation more than doubled last year, with 68 athletes participating. And the number of volunteer hours nearly quadrupled, from 360 in its initial year to 1,276 hours last year. The aim is to eclipse 3,000 hours in '08.
In response, Geneva coach Rob Wicinski and Marmion coach Dan Thorpe are adjusting summer practice schedules in order to allow their players to take part in the two-day camp. Others will likely follow suit.
But there is a catch.
"You can't just cut a check to get into my camp," Gregory said. "You have to volunteer time in your local community to qualify."
For now, BCFL is a local program at the grassroots level. Sponsors donate funds based on the amount of hours the kids will be spending in their respective communities. All remaining money is delivered to children's charities.
Gregory has much grander plans, however. He's already received calls from Maggie Daley, wife of the Chicago mayor, and is looking to extend the regional reach of BCFL to statewide recognition and, eventually, coast to coast.
"Our plan is to partner with the IHSA to where they recognize us on their web site," Gregory said. "If that were to happen, this could really take off in the next year."
And nationally?
"We're just waiting for the right sponsorship to step up…Nike, Under Armour, somebody like that," Gregory said.
BCFL is an equal-opportunity esteem-booster, where the third-string left tackle is every bit as cool as the star quarterback. Because they're all making a difference -- for themselves, and others.
"What makes the difference between the blue-chip kid who goes to a great college vs. a kid who just stumbles and makes one mistake after another?" Gregory asked. "It really comes down to self esteem and social decision making. We're trying to boost kids and build their character and leadership skills through the venue of team sports."
For information, visit www.bluechipsforlife.org
You sacrifice for your sport. Give to live a better life.