- November 23, 2024
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The Matanzas football team has been finished with its season for a few weeks now, but members of the Dirty 30 — and then some — are still doing team things. And those things are helping the Flagler County community.
A few weeks ago, 35 players showed up at 8 a.m. to help the Rotary Club of Flagler County hang Christmas lights and decorations to prepare Central Park at Town Center for the holiday season.
Why? Because they wanted to.
“The kids worked closely with the Rotary Club until about 5 p.m.,” Matanzas coach Jeff Nettles said on Monday.
Each member of the club took about five or six Matanzas players to work in a group. The Rotarian was the leader.
The players helped paint houses, fixed light bulbs, tightened bolts, lifted heavy equipment and did anything else they could to help.
At noon, the players ate Wendy’s for lunch. Then back to work.
“This was great to see our players giving their time to help the community to help a worthwhile cause,” Nettles said. “It was a good lesson for them.”
Nettles said they learned how to see a project through and how to work with others to accomplish a goal — two things that Nettles thinks can help the team on the field next season.
“I know our kids really enjoyed working with the Rotary Club and seeing the final product that they worked so hard to achieve,” Nettles said.
Helping set up lights or tighten some bolts isn’t going to win games for the Matanzas football program. But it does help shape young men, and it does help a team come together.
And both those things can lead to wins on the field.
“It really was a rewarding time for our Matanzas football players,” Nettles said.
It’s the season of giving, after all.