By Thomas Sellers Jr.
As the coaching staff of the Millington Trojans held their traditional round table in the back of the Millington First Baptist Church Gymnasium, nearly 50 players had a chance to bond in their own ways.
A Trojan Football right of passage since 2004, the annual Trojan Football Camp at FBC was canceled in 2020 because of the global pandemic. Last Thursday and Friday, the 2021 edition marked the return of the event giving the student/athletes a chance to build cohesion through playing cards, competing in video games and participating in childhood activities. And of course some players took advantage of their air mattresses to grab a quick nap.
Meanwhile Trojans Head Coach Chris Michael just embraced the opportunity to see his players and coaches bond and have a chance to fellowship with the staff of FBC.
“What we missed?” Michael said rhetorically. “Your togetherness, unity, ability to learn each other and trust each other. You get all of that kind of stuff in these close setting when you’re away from the house and close to each other. You get to know your teammates a lot better.
“You’re going through a grind,” he continued. “You’re all grinding together. Some people fall to the side because mentally it’s too tough on them. Others try to pick them up. You get all that bonding going on through three practices a day.”
Starting back in 2004, the Millington Trojans have made the pilgrimage to First Baptist Church located at 5010 West Union Road. It started with former Head Coach Hank Hawkins and then Youth Minister Drew Murphy.
Now Michael is working with Pastor of Sports Ministry Tanner Arrwood to give his players all the resources they need to build a spiritual bond. Community members like Scott Percer, Larry Jackson, the Bakers and many more showed up to encourage the players, feed them and make sure they had team-building exercises.
“We missed all of that last year,” Michael said. “But on the coaching side, we missed all of that time of preparation. It is invaluable. We put in a lot more time this summer on the grass practicing in helmets, shorts and T-shirts. It is nice having the camp back.”
Through the meals, playing games and team chats, the Trojans got to businesses preparing for the likes of Munford, Covington, Ripley, McNairy Central, Fayette Academy, Bolton, Northpoint Christian, Dyersburg and Bolivar.
“We were fortunate that we were able to track down games and play close to a normal schedule last year,” Michael said. “Not having any major issues with getting shut down. We were very happy with that. The kids, it didn’t bother them a whole lot. They kept showing up every week just practicing.
“It will be better for us as a staff with the preparation to get the kids better prepared than last year,” he continued. “It’s a new schedule. So there is a lot of unknowns. That creates some uncertainty for us as a staff and our schedule is really tough this year.”
If the road to normalcy continues, the Trojans open the 2021 season Aug. 20 at home against the Kirby Cougars. Then the following week the well-known Cougars of Munford come to town for the M&M Bowl.
“We’ve been hopeful this year that those 10 teams on our schedule, we’ll see them all this year,” Michael concluded. “It’s going to be the guys we’re going to see. So we’re going to prepare like normal and hopefully things will maintain as they are and keep getting better. Hopefully we don’t run into any issues to where anything has to get shutdown.”
