2008 Mississippi Bowl players visit the Boys and Girls Club.
All of the highlights at the first ever Mississippi Bowl wasn’t just on the field Sunday afternoon between Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Georgia Military College. On Saturday, Dec. 6, players from both teams took time out from the busy bowl schedule to spend time with local children at two Boys and Girls club locations on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. While Georgia Military had it’s walk-through at Biloxi Indian Stadium, Gulf Coast players and coaches visited the Biloxi Boys & Girls Club on Lamuese St. location. During the afternoon, Georgia Military made a stop at the D’Iberville Boys and Girls club.
The kids took part with team members in activities like kickball, touch football, and basketball. The Gulf Coast cheerleaders even whipped up a game of duck-duck goose with some of the smaller children. The smiles on the kids’ faces during the activities made it clear that this community service project was a big success.
“The kids are excited and everyone is having a great time,” said Greg Gipson, Boys and Girls Club operations director. “If you ask the players if they’ve ever been part of a Boys and Girls Club, I’m sure you’d have a pretty big amount. This is another way to give back to the community.”
“The kids are excited and everyone is having a great time,” said Greg Gipson, Boys and Girls Club operations director. “If you ask the players if they’ve ever been part of a Boys and Girls Club, I’m sure you’d have a pretty big amount. This is another way to give back to the community.”
Children like 14-year-old Kendrick Patterson not only had fun with the football players, he even showed a few of them that he’s a pretty good athlete as they ran football practice drills.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Patterson said. “We played basketball before we played football, and we’ve been doing wide receiver and quarterback drills. They taught me not to be a ball-hog when you’re playing basketball.”
Players like Gulf Coast running back Jamal Young enjoyed the time away from football and took pride in the fact that many of the children looked up to them as role models.
“Its fun being out here with the kids and trying something new,” Young said. “This gives them someone to look up to.”
