"As a coach, my responsibility goes beyond making them better wrestlers," coach Allen said. "I also want to help them grow as men in their faith and in how they treat others. It's important that they learn to use their gifts as means to help those around them."
The Tigers participated in several local service activities in Arkadelphia. Ouachita wresters were involved in the bi-annual Tiger Serve Day, where they cleaned garages, yards, and built decks around the community of Arkadelphia. Their annual entry in the Arkadelphia Christmas Parade helped raise awareness for the Junior Badger Youth Wrestling Club. The team also hosted free clinics for area kids, youth and high school coaches from across the state. The team also was active with the Arkadelphia Schools FCA chapter, speaking to junior high and high schools kids about their faith. They also volunteered their time to assist with the Arkansas State Fair and the Amplified Music Fest in Little Rock.
For freshman Jarhett Lee, the two events that had the biggest impact on him were a block party held at the Arkadelphia Human Development Center (ADHC) and leading Backyard Bible Clubs. Lee shared that the team really enjoyed their time at the ADHC where they played games and interacted with the members there. It was the first time Lee had interacted with the people there.
"It really opened my eyes to see what kind of things people struggle with daily," Lee said. "It also made me realize that you can't make assumptions before you really get to know people. I wasn't sure what all we'd be doing when we first got there, but we had so much fun playing games, laughing and just really getting to talk with the people there."
The Backyard Bible was the most special for Lee. He shared that it allowed him to be involved in a program that helped kids that had a similar background to his. The team spent the afternoons sharing Bible stories and playing games with children living in government housing.
"I grew up in a pretty poor area," Lee shared. "I remember thinking it was always cool when older kids would want to talk to you or do something with you. It's really nice to be able do that now and hope that we are making some kind of an impact and being a good influence on their lives. I'm glad I got an opportunity to come to college and wrestle, but also try and be a positive impact on kids and share with them what I was able to do."
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now