Marines volunteer free time to coaching youth football team

Photo By Staff Sgt. S.T. Stewart | One of the team members on the Tiny Mite Blacks Pop Warner team wears the team jersey Sept. 26, during a scrimmage at Havelock Park in Havelock, N.C. The team is made up of 5 to 8-year-old children from the local community and coached by three Marines from Cherry Point.  

HAVELOCK, NC, UNITED STATES

10.05.2012

Story by Lance Cpl. S.T. Stewart 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. - It is officially fall, and each week just outside the front gate of Cherry Point, three Marines carve time from their busy schedules at the air station to spend time behind a whistle teaching young Lawrence Taylors and Joe Montanas the fundamentals of tackling and touchdowns.

For the Marines, the transition from the flight line to the Pop Warner turf is subtle. Much like being a Marine, football revolves around discipline, commitment and teamwork.

“I have no problems using up what free time I have for these kids,” said Cpl. Corey Gauldsberry, who works as a customer liaison at Fleet Readiness Center East aboard the station.

So why does a single twenty-something Marine choose to send his time off with easily distracted 5 to 8-year-old dandelion-picking children? It's a shared passion for pigskin, hard hits and gridiron strategy.

Gauldsberry, a native of Lisbon, Ohio, and die hard Cleveland Browns fan, said he recalls his football playing days growing up and realizing how much influence his coaches had on him.

“Now, I feel like I am helping guide the next generation,” he said. “I am shocked every day when I see how much these little kids learn.”

Starting off the season, the young players tested the Marines’ patience. But with time, the reward was overwhelming as the coaches watched the team grow and begin to act as one.

This season is the first time most of the team has played a team sport, said fellow coach, Staff Sgt. Kevin Randall, a maintenance controller with Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1. Randall and the third Marine coach on the team, Capt. Eric Albright, an AV-8B Harrier pilot with Marine Attack Squadron 223, both have sons on the team. For them coaching is another way to forge that father-son bond, they said.

The shared spirit of unity on the football field is nearing culmination for the young football players and the Marines with less than a month left in the season. Despite the demands of everyday life as Marines, these three coaches are willing to dedicate their free time to instilling traits they hope will stay with the team throughout their lives.

“I hope more Marines will start volunteering and getting out here with the kids,” said Randall. “It shows maturity and dedication to give up your free time to help guide these children.”

• Date Taken: 10.05.2012
• Date Posted: 10.05.2012 15:29
• Story ID: 95779
• Location: HAVELOCK, NC, US