They say that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the same rings true of the “new” Antioch Redskins.
Like any good team president, Benji Sikes puts in long hours working at the Antioch Redskins’ park throughout the week. This sometimes keeps him on the grounds until after sunset. But the results he’s seeing make it all worthwhile.
Sikes, his wife, Emily, and the rest of the new board of directors will not rest until the new part of the program identity is firmly entrenched in the minds of the Antioch community. There isn’t going to be another season cancellation, as there was in fall 2014. On top of that, children who wish to play football will be able to do so in a positive environment.
And, the best part? Sikes already confirms that there will be fall football in Antioch this year, as more than enough players have pre-registered for the season.
“These are probably the best numbers that we’ve looked at in a long time,” he says.
TIME FOR CHANGE
The Redskins had been around for roughly 50 years in 2014, but participation numbers had been declining. They hit their all-time low before the fall season, with only 11 players signed up before the cut-off date. Then-president Mike Wilkinson attributed the decline to an interest in baseball, and it wasn’t long before he left his position.
The team held a football fundamentals camp, led by Adam Cain, for any area youths interested in learning the game. The team, in conjunction with the Tri-County Youth Football and Cheerleading Conference, hosted several TCYFCC football games and cheer competitions to raise money for the Redskins program during the season.
But there was much more happening behind the scenes.
When Sikes was installed as team president, he made it his goal to put as much effort as he could into turning the program around, even if he’s spent more time some weeks working at the field than at his real job, as he and his wife say.
“We were able to pull this park out of a financial deficit, out of a numbers deficit for kids, and basically, what we’ve done is build a park on class and respect,” he says.
THE “NEW” REDSKINS
To get participation numbers back up, Sikes knew that a lot of things had to change. One of the biggest areas for improvement was in the attitude of the program: If he could get the right people in the right positions, and put forth enough effort, people would be drawn back to the program.
“We just couldn’t let it go away,” he says. “It was one of those things where, if we just kind of stuck in there, if we got everything right, it more or less was a lesson we could teach kids on how to not give up on something. If you work through it, it can happen.”
On the football side, the Antioch program continued the football fundamentals camps and was able to find enough players to get involved in 8-on-8 arena football action this spring. That was huge, as Antioch previously had no such program.
“If kids wanted to play football in the spring, they would go to other parks,” Sikes says. “So, once they would experience a good time with another park, we would never get the kids back.”
Much of the Redskins staff is also new, and Sikes says that each member was thoroughly vetted before they were hired to be sure that each person was the right fit for the program. On the field, only two football coaches and the cheerleading director remain from the previous presidency. On the administrative board, several new members have been installed, and the team’s board meetings are now open to the public.
The camps sometimes catered to only two kids in a night, and sometimes had double-digit participants, but the Redskins kept the lights on and stayed on the field no matter what those numbers looked like. Now, many of those campers have signed up to play for the fall season — even some who hadn’t played football before.
“We may have four returning players that have played for Antioch,” Sikes says. “A lot of these kids come from all different walks of life. Some of them are basketball players, some of them are soccer players and some of them are football players that haven’t played in a while, but they come out here, and we’ve been able to arrange five competitive teams after a season with no numbers. What we’re doing is working.”
So enter the new Antioch Redskins: a program that is going to be 100% for the kids, even if other things come before football.
“We want to take these kids and turn them into good people,” Sikes says. “Even before we teach them how to play football. Based on what we used to do this for: to keep kids off the streets, make them good people, help them through high school and get them to the next level.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
FOR THE KIDS
According to Vice President Emily Sikes, the Antioch Redskins program will be friendly to all kids who want to play football, even if their families would have trouble affording it.
None of the money that the team gains through fundraisers goes back into the park. Instead, it goes toward sponsorships for kids whose families would otherwise be unable to pay.
“We don’t turn any kids away,” she says. “If there’s five kids that need sponsorships, we have car washes, we’ve had some coaches go up to the Big Top Flea Market — donations only — these kids are getting covered. We figure it out.”
Kids also get help in the classroom and can go to the park for a meal whenever the team makes them available.
“We’ve adopted all of these kids,” Sikes says.
For more information about the team, visit AntiochRedskins.org.
