Coweta Football Team Will Head To Tampa To Help Kids

More than 30 members of Coweta High School’s football team are heading to Florida this summer to help feed kids and put on a free sports camp.

Deacon Peterson plays football for the Coweta Tigers. He says going on a trip with his teammates is a chance to help those who might not be as fortunate as he is.

"There's other people out there that don't have it as good as you, not always, and so I just hope that people will want to help out in the world," said Peterson.

The idea for this trip came from the Head Football Coach, Tim Harper. Harper is from Tampa and wants to give back to his hometown. He says he was headed down the wrong path as a kid before he found faith. He’s calling this trip “Take Tampa,” and his goal is to reach out to kids who might be struggling the same way he was.

"Once you've been blessed, once you've been given a gift or an opportunity, it's your turn to share it with somebody else,” said Harper. “And that's kind of what we're going to do."

The Coweta players will run a free 7 on 7 football tournament and a sports camp for kids in Tampa.

"It's 16 public schools from Tampa that kind of come from a lower socioeconomic area and we're just doing this camp,” said Harper. “We're going to love on them, we're going to give them lunch, give them a T-shirt, breakfast.”

The players are all paying their own way, and they say they’re excited to be able to spend time together and do something good for others.

"We've never really been all together outside of football before, besides one trip last year,” said Zevvelyn Balalong, who is a Freshman. “But I just think it's cool being out of football and all together."

About 800 kids have already signed up for the tournament and camps, and the players hope each of them walk away knowing they’re cared for.

"It really means a lot to me, just so I can impact someone,” said Justin Robinson, who is a Junior. “Whether that's one person or a thousand people, just want to help change someone's life."

The kids will head to Tampa in July.

The tournament will be in the same neighborhood where Coach Harper grew up. Since the kids are paying their own way they are holding a fundraiser Saturday morning at the Atwood’s in Coweta starting at 9 a.m. They say the more money they will be able to raise, the more kids they will be able to feed once they get out to Tampa.