KANSAS CITY, Mo – Now that’s more like it. On Friday (Oct 28), a week after being shot at, the Southwest Early College Campus football team took the field against Pembroke Hill for a friendly game of football. In honor of it being their final home game, parents of SWECC paid no admission. Most were simply relieved the game was moved from Southeast, the site where shots were fired.
// “It was a good idea that they transferred the game over here because part of the players and cheerleaders might have been afraid to go back out there and it really is about their safety,” said Patrice Tivis, a parent.
Yes, SWECC lost 48-18.
But the team won something much more important: A chance to play another day.
A week ago, eight shots were fired at SWECC’s bus with five striking the exterior wall. This coming after a homecoming contest against the Afrikan Centered Education Collegium Campus.
Nobody was hurt. But everyone was understandably shook up.
Fast forward to Friday night, and things were considerably different.
Prior to kickoff, the team made its pre-game walk from school to Wornall Road Baptist Church to receive its weekly meal from church members.
Perhaps with the assistance of the Heavenly Father, no shots were fired on Game Day. Just plenty of love given. And tons of prayer received.
“With the struggles that they’ve had at Southwest, you don’t really know what all the home-life situations are, we just want to make sure that they know as a church and individuals that we really do care about them” said Kristin Spilker, a church volunteer.
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Sharp also stopped by the church to lend his support.
“We’re very, very proud of you,” Sharp told the team.
Then a player capped off the remarkable event by offering a special thanks to God almighty.
“Thank you for allowing us to pull through the incident that happened last week,” said the player. “We know that we came through for a reason and it wasn’t just a coincidence.”
Kansas City police still have not made any arrests.
I’ll keep you updated.
Wayne Hodges, an MBA from St. Mary University, is the Editor-in-Chief of MassAppealNews.com. He also serves as a business/political columnist with The Atlanta Post and he’s a movie critic and journalist with ILoveBlackMovies.com. Wayne welcomes your comments 24/7 at whodges@massappealnews.com
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