- November 5, 2024
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Deep in the heart of Bunnell, a group of football players jog around Eddie Johnson Field. It’s Monday night. Temperatures will dip into the 50s.
Coach Curt Schalit begins practice for his 14U Flagler Wolf Pack team. In just a few days, they will be headed to the United Youth Football League national tournament.
But football is only a small part of each player's story.
A vicious cycle
Earl and Beverly Robinson gazed toward the field as they watched their 15-year-old son, Mhonterrio, bulldoze over linemen and linebackers. It took a gang of players to bring him down.
“This team is the bomb,” Beverly Robinson said, as she smiled and looked back toward her husband, who was wearing a highlighter-green sweatshirt. “Everyone is like a family.”
But when practice was over, the Robinsons had no place to go. They are homeless.
“Right now, we’re going from pillow to post,” Beverly Robinson said. “We went from one friend to another friend. Now we’re out of that friend. As of right now, the only option we have is to drive back and forth to Hastings, where my mother is. That’s what we have to do as of tonight, and it’s going to be hard because we don’t have the gas.”
The Robinsons moved to Flagler County in July. A month later, Beverly Robinson was laid off from her job. Her family was evicted in October.
For the last two months, it’s been a daily struggle for the Robinsons. Beverly has been trying to get back to school to further her education, but she can’t do that unless she can prove a place of residence. And she can’t prove a place of residence because she doesn’t have the money to rent a place. It’s a vicious cycle, she said.
“I’m hunting for jobs. I’m drinking coffee and I’m on the computer looking,” she said.
Perhaps the only constant in the Robinson’s life is football. Their two daughters, Tiani, 12, and Tierria, 11, are both cheerleaders for the Flagler Wolf Pack. The cheerleaders and the 14U team that Mhonterrio plays on are headed to the national tournament this weekend in Plant City.
It was a turnaround season for Schalit’s team, after going 3-7 last year.
Every kid plays, no matter what
The Wolf Pack finished the season 9-1 and second in the conference. Sixteen teams will participate in the national tournament, and Schalit’s team isn’t planning to just to make an appearance. They want to win.
Schalit, who is also a doctor in town, used to coach in Pop Warner. But for so many years while his team was practicing at the field in downtown Bunnell, random youths would come by and ask if they could play. They weren’t on the team, but they wanted to show off their skills. Many didn’t have transportation or the money to be on the team.
Schalit wanted to help.
And so, two years ago, he left Flagler Pop Warner and opened his own league. That’s when the Flagler Wolf Pack was born.
Competing in the United Youth Football League, there are no weight or size limitations for players, and so as long as players meet the age requirements, they can suit up and play.
“When we decided to do this, we wanted to make it where it was accessible to every kid — weight and financially,” said Maria Schalit, president and founder of Flagler Wolf Pack. In just its second year, the league now has five teams and three cheer squads.
Maria Schalit said 70% of players and cheerleaders are receiving at least some financial assistance from the league.
But as far as the Schalits are concerned, that’s OK.
“Kids want to belong to something, and we felt like there were so many limits to what they can belong to — specifically in this area,” Maria Schalit said.
Through fundraising, the team raised about $15,000, and so no player will have to pay to go to nationals this weekend.
Curt Schalit has been coaching many of the players on this year’s team for the last seven years. They have grown together and lost together. And now, they have a chance to win a national championship together.
“It takes a special group of young men,” Curt Schalit said. “This is the first time I’ve had a team that really played for each other.”
Because the team has been together for so long, Schalit has been able to implement a relatively sophisticated, no-huddle offense. All players wear wristbands that break down various play calls. When Schalit can see the formation the opposing defense shows, he can change the plays on the fly. In total, the team runs about 70 plays. Schalit said the offense is about as complicated as some high school offenses.
“It’s been an honor to coach them,” he said. “I’m the only father figure some of them have, which, to me, has been a blessing. They’ve taught me a lot of things, and hopefully I’ve taught them some things along the way, too.”
Football and faith
So there is more than just sports happening on those Bunnell fields.
“This is much bigger than football,” Schalit said. “Some of these kids are staying in a hotel for the first time. We’re going to Bush Gardens. We’re going to have some fun over there.”
Beverly and Earl Robinson sat on that bench in the brisk air. For at least a few hours, they put aside their worries and enjoyed football — the very thing that has kept their family together. And they don’t show their struggle. That would be the same as quitting.
“I’m not a quitter, and I’m showing the kids that they can’t quit, either,” he said. “But it’s hard. You cry in your shirt; you cry in your pillow. But you don’t let anyone see you hurting.”
Beverly Robinson said she hopes to get into a house by Christmas.
A little bit of faith and a little bit of football will keep giving the Robinsons glimmers of hope until the time comes.
“This is what keeps us going,” Beverly Robinson said. “This is it, man.”
