Grapevine football players sacrifice summer for service

Nothing is more valuable to a high school student than their summer vacation.

High school football coaches know the struggle of trying to get their athletes out of bed or away from the pool to come up to the weight room for summer workouts.

So when presented with the opportunity to give away a little more of that precious freedom to serve others, it would be likely most would politely decline in favor of a new video game or lunch with friends.

But last Thursday, 25 Grapevine football players visited the Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation and spent the day learning about head and spine injuries and working with patients recovering from trauma to those areas.

“I told those guys it was pretty impactful just to see how lucky they are to be healthy and how some of the people were finally just able to get their shirt on without help,” Grapevine head coach Randy Jackson said.

The athletes spent an hour going through various parts of the program themselves to experience the work the patients put forth. After that, they spent time shadowing different therapists throughout the building, helping with treatments and spending time with the patients.

One group spent time playing cards with a young patient who had suffered severe injuries after a recent car wreck.

“He was in pretty bad shape, but they were playing Uno with him and everyone was laughing. And I thought, if nothing else, this guy for 30 minutes is in a better place,” Jackson said.

The lessons learned on the trip were not only things Jackson hopes his player learn to apply to their lives, but perhaps less importantly, things they can carry over to the football field, such as taking care of underclassmen.

Every Thursday, Grapevine’s seniors work out with the freshmen to build team chemistry and give the seniors a chance to lead with humility.

“We talk about servant leadership in our program and we really make a big deal [of that] in our program,” Jackson said.

Jackson said service will always be a part of their program and they are in the process of finding another hospital at which they can serve.

And he can see his athletes taking pride in this work off of the football field.

“For 25 kids that left their summer vacation to go to a hospital, that speaks volumes I think. That’s pretty awesome,” he said.

This story was originally published June 29, 2015 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Grapevine football players sacrifice summer for service."