Faith, Football and a Season to Believe.........

Review : Remember Why you Play ? Faith, Football and a Season to Believe- David Thomas - October 2010

Who enjoys films like Gridiron Gang , Forever Strong , The Longest Yard and TV Shows like Friday Night Lights ? . Remember Why you Play ? is for all those fans of the above inspirational though Longest Yard is a tad more comical movies. Remember Why you Play? takes us on a journey back to the year November 2008 when Faith Christian School opened their hearts and home base up to the lives of those at Gainesville State School - a maxi security correctional facility.
As we know by watching the movies , it starts with a coach at the correctional facility trying to give their boys something to work for and a rewarding experience of working as a team.  In November 2008, the season of Football was finishing up , when Kris Hogan of Faith Christian School had an idea , why not invite the Gainesville Correctional school to play against their team the Tornadoes. For Gainesville , they had never ever won a game or scored rarely a touchdown and in this final game , they scored two touchdowns. Though this isn't what makes Remember Why you Play? such a touching story that in the end had my eyes watering. It was the fact that the coach Kris Hogan had organised half of his Tornadoes families and fans to sit on the benches for the team of Gainesville and cheer for them. For most of the kids on the team, they had never had anyone encourage them or praise them using their own names , some never had any encouragement.
This tale is so inspiring and it goes to show that a little effort can make a huge difference in somebody else's life even if we don't realise the huge impact.
Review Copy obtained from Tyndale Publishers