Spanish Fort football coach Ben Blackmon had a valuable lesson for his team following its spring intrasquad game last week.
“We have a tremendous community in Spanish Fort,” Blackmon said. “We always try to do things to take care of the people here. We are trying to teach the boys that – trying to teach them to be servants – and they can do that through the game of football.”
The Toros did just last last week.
Spanish Fort held its intrasquad game at the unusual time of 1 p.m. and charged $3 admission. Though none of the students or fans who attended the game knew it, Blackmon had a special purpose for the fee.
The Toros donated all the money raised – a total of $2,000 – to Spanish Fort High library assistant Jane Leonard, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.
“Ms. Jane has worked here for a while,” Blackmon said. “She always greets you with a smile and a good, healthy, ‘Good morning, how are you doing?’ She’s always positive, always willing to help out doing odd tasks to help other people. We just thought it was a good opportunity to fight the fight with her and help her as much as we can.”
The long-term lesson for Blackmon’s team is simple.
“If these boys can learn to give back to their community at an early age and to help people who are struggling, they will grow into young men who will continue to do that in the future,” he said.
Blackmon said Leonard was surprised by the gesture. She hugged Blackmon and shook the hands of every football player present when the money was presented to her.
Watch the Spanish Fort football team present the donations to Jane Leonard: