GOAL Oriented
by Jill Cousins
As a kid playing Pop Warner youth football in North Carolina and years later as a coach in Lake Mary’s Pop Warner program, Ephraim Grubbs fully embraced all the life lessons he learned from playing the sport. Since 2007, Ephraim – Coach E to his players – has helped impart that wisdom to the many kids he has coached, including his four sons.
Coach E, now the commissioner for the Lake Mary Youth Football Association – which includes the Lake Mary Pop Warner football program – has been both inspirational and successful on the football field. In 2019, he coached youngest son Noah (then age 12) and his Pee Wee teammates to Lake Mary’s first national title at the Pop Warner Super Bowl. The following year, Coach E’s JV Pop Warner team (also quarterbacked by Noah) won the 2020 Super Bowl title.
It was around the same time that Coach E also became involved with Sports 4 the Kids (S4TK) , a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides underserved children with the opportunity to participate in youth sports programs. Both Coach E and Noah, now a junior at Lake Mary High School, volunteer their time with S4TK to inspire even more local athletes to be their best on and off the football field.
“Football is a contact sport in a controlled environment where kids can be physical and also be part of a team,” says Coach E. “I think it molds young boys better than most sports. My sons played every sport, but they all played football, and it made them better at their other sports. Their self-confidence and self-awareness was so much better because of football.”
Sports 4 the Kids was started in 2012 by Danny Trosset, director for sports tourism in Seminole County, to help financially struggling families pay for youth sports programs for their children. About five years ago, the organization added Goals 4 the Kids (G4TK) – a seasonal program in which athletes who are receiving assistance from S4TK learn about the many benefits of staying active, conditioning, and leading a healthy lifestyle.
The most recent G4TK event was held in September at Raider Center on Seminole State College’s Sanford campus. Both Coach E and Noah were among the guest speakers who provided the young athletes (ages five to 18) with informative and inspirational messages aimed to promote five key pillars: nutrition, physical activity, education, sportsmanship, and mental wellness.
Giving Back and Looking to the Future
Lake Mary resident Lisa Goldman, chair of the board for S4TK, invited Coach E, Noah, and other community volunteers to discuss those key topics. At the September event, Coach E addressed sportsmanship, while Noah – the new football ambassador for Sports 4 the Kids – shared effective study habits and stressed the importance of maintaining good grades while being an athlete.
“I have always wanted to help the younger generation, and I knew this was a good opportunity to do so,” says Noah, 17, who has committed to play college football at Notre Dame. “The experience was great for me to give back to those kids that need some advice. I am looking forward to continuing to work with Goals 4 the Kids in the future.”
Sports 4 the Kids provides more than 200 scholarships every year to athletes who are selected from the hundreds of applications received on its website (Sports4theKids.org). Lisa got involved with the organization in 2014, and her supportive family members and friends have been involved ever since. In 2018, while at Lake Mary High School, her son Andrew and nephew Jeremy Goldman formed the first S4TK Club, where students can earn community service hours by volunteering in a variety of ways. There are now 10 clubs at Central Florida high schools, including Oviedo and Winter Springs.
The teen volunteers, along with student-athletes at Seminole State, help at Goals 4 the Kids events or at Midway Safe Harbor, a free academic support program in Sanford for elementary school students. Club volunteers also attend the football games of Sports 4 the Kids scholarship recipients, cheering for the participants whose parents are unable to attend.
“We have some incredible volunteers due to these clubs,” says Lisa. “They don’t all have to love sports, but they have to love helping our community.”
In addition to volunteers, S4TK also relies on the community for financial support at its big annual fundraiser, which is right around the corner. The Lucky 11th Sports 4 the Kids Golf Tournament will take place on Monday, December 9 at Heathrow Country Club.
“All of this is about helping children in need to be able to play sports, feel what it’s like to have a coach as a mentor, and enjoy the camaraderie,” says Lisa. “We full-on have the mission of wanting kids to stay active and healthy, and we’re doing everything we can to remove the financial barriers to do so.”