Dear Warriors Family,

Five years ago, I stood on a football field sideline discouraged after I had just told my sons coach that he needed to leave and not come back because he had just berated our team in a expletive filled tirade after they lost in a 1st grade football game. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed and wondered if my son would ever enjoy football again. After a small break he assured me that he still loved football and wanted to keep playing. The problem was, I knew nothing about football and had no idea how to find a place to put him where he was safe from lunatics and could still learn how to play. A few months later I found the NOCO league and we decided to take a chance on another coach hoping it would be better this time. That coach ended up being Brian Barnes.

From the first few minutes, we knew our son would be in good hands with Brian and his brother. They seemed to know more about football than I did and had a great demeanor that made us feel like this was a safe place to be. What happened after, we could never of expected.

You see, this was at the beginning of Covid and we were scared like a lot of folks. We couldn’t go to church and we avoided most interactions with friends because we were caring for grandparents who were leaning on us to protect them from getting sick. So at this point we had almost zero interaction with the outside world and were really suffering as a family because of it. We didn’t tell anyone then but the time spent on the football field with the warrior family that season were the only interactions we had with others. In turn, this became our extended family. Brian invited me to help out where I could, mostly by setting up cones, throwing a few passes to kids and bringing halftime snacks occasionally. My wife met a whole new community of moms with boys who were obsessed with football (whether the moms loved football more is debatable), and she felt like she fit in for once. We also had a little bowling ball named Theo who was yearning for time with other kids, little did we know there was also a network of little brothers and sisters running around with nothing to do who invited him into the mix. We felt at home, we healed, our fears were lessened and we had people who loved us. It was Heavenly.

Over the next few years it just got better. Friendships we had made got deeper, the fun got bigger and passions for helping our sons become great men where matched with all of yours. Brian inspired us with every address to parents and players. He taught us that football was more than a game, but a way to conquer fears, gain grit and strength to be great at life. He spent countless hours helping teach me the sport in coffee shops all around town with a notepad and pen because I wanted to be better for my son and the boys that signed up to play under us. I was all in and he made me into a legitimate coach of a sport I never had the chance to play as a kid. Once again it was Heavenly because mission and passion had aligned and it was so fulfilling.

We would then come to gain some of the most loving, caring and hard working dads around the area to help coach boys into men. I’ve learned more about being a dad and man of God from these great men then I’ll ever learn. Cody, Jason, AJ, Brandon, Omar, Matt and many more, I thank you for being a friend and example for me to shoot for. You encouraged me so much! What I can hardly put into words is my appreciation for what you’ve done for my son. It makes me emotional just thinking about the amount of time you’ve spent making my son into what he is today. As a parent there is no greater gift you can give me than to encourage and love my son. I will be forever grateful for your work in his life and he will always remember the lessons he learned from you all. Thank you so much. I also want to recognize the love my wife was shown by all of you moms out there cheering from the sideline. It was the greatest community we’ve ever witnessed and we are so grateful for all of you. Thank you for providing us with your time and encouragement, sending us highlight videos of Everett that we hadn’t got, pats on the back after tough games and a simple “good game coach” after. We truly love you all!

Now for the hard part. We knew that our journey,(no im not talking about the bay’s dog which we love), would end with the warriors at some point. We always believed it would be when the boys got to high school and we were never looking for an alternative. As some of you may know, our boys attend Resurrection Christian School and we are so grateful for the community there helping teach ours boys to love Jesus and love others with their whole hearts. It was announced in the last few months that the school was going in a different direction with their football coaches and that they would be making hires. Knowing this, I avoided applying because I was totally content where I was. However, this past week I was approached from the coach there and was asked to consider joining him to rebuild the program from the ground up. By starting now, we could assure our boys the best possible high school experience. I told him I would consider but really didn’t believe there was a chance I would take it. Over the next few days our family fasted and prayed over the decision. Jenny and I wept and cried out to God that he would put in our hearts where he wanted us. It became clear that he wanted us to go to RCS. I tried to deny it and fight Him on it but we wanted to be obedient knowing His blessing was on it.

Our hearts are heavy as we embark on this new path aligned slightly away from our favorite family. We know this means less time being around you all, less time our boys get to be together and less time that I get to spend teaching and loving your boys. I will miss you all so much and know there may never be another team like this one. The thing that gives us so much encouragement is knowing you are in such good hands with Brian and his team of coaches. I can’t wait to see all of your sons on fields and courts in the future as I cheer them on. I know God has a plan for all of them and they are in such loving hands. I believe we will still be involved with 7v7 this spring so we will still have opportunities to see you all and have one last hoorrah.

Thank you Warrior family for being everything we needed. We will love you always.

Sincerely,

Brad, Jenny, Everett and Theo