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Massey talks football, character building to Rotary
With the first kick-off just two days away Deer Park football head coach Christ Massey visited the Deer Park Rotary Club on Wednesday.
Massey, who was hired in 2004, talked about the challenges of playing in a six-team district.
"Finding non-district opponents wasn't easy because when everyone else is in an eight-team district," he said. Unlike other teams in this predicament, the Deer did not have to schedule games with schools in Dallas or San Antonio like other schools have.
The Deer start the season Friday night at Abshier Stadium against the Dickinson Gators.
"We were born ready," Massey said. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Returning five starters on offense and three on defense, the Deer will be a younger athletic team during the 2010 campaign, he said.
"Darian Banks (a senior) is our 6-6 wide receiver. He just needs to tell the quarterback 'Put it up there, I'll go get it,'" Massey said.
Massey is also leaning on senior tight end Payden McVey for leadership and big plays. "Keep your eyes on No. 88. He's big and powerful and fun to watch."
The line will see the return of offensive tackle Travis Ellard and Chance Moser, who is moving from center to guard.
Under center will be junior quarterback Austin Rainer, who stepped into the starting role mid-season last year.
"Austin had a great camp for us," Massey said.
Rainer will hand off to a collection of running backs each with a different skill set, including Jeremy Riley, Demetrius Banks and Justin James.
"Justin's a fast little guy who we are going to try to pass the ball in space and see what he can do," Massey said.
Defensively, the Deer return DE Brett Vaughn, CB Chandler Meyers and the district defensive MVP DE Taylor Freimuller.
"Korey Stiles, one of our safeties saw a lot of playing time last year and started a couple of games," Massey said. "This year, we have a lot of guys stepping in playing extremely well. We have a lot of big shoes to fill from last year."
While Massey was excited about he and his team hitting the gridiron, he was also excited about the opportunity coaches have to mold young athletes into respectable adults.
"Football is something we do. Our goal is to win every game. But our purpose is who we are and to be a part of a cause that is bigger than what you are as an individual," he said. "We want victories on the scoreboard, but what's bigger than that is victories in the classroom, in the community and at home."
Massey showed the Rotary Club a thick binder he uses as a textbook. It is composed of life lessons about patriotism, being a community leader and other character building ideas. Through the program, Massey said he is more interested in his student-athletes becoming better brothers and sons and future men, husbands and fathers.
"It's hard to get this across to young people because we live in a world where it's all about the individual. We want them to get to a place where they can't get by themselves and realize that it took every single person in the room or on the team to get them there," he said. "We want them to know that it's OK to struggle because it's not about the struggle. It's about how you deal with it."
One of the goals Massey set before the team is to have more academic all-district players than another team in 22-5A. It's a goal he wants to repeat from last year when Deer Park landed 46 varsity athletes on the list, with seven of them named academic all-state.
"We want 90 averages or better in all classes. If that average drops below a 75, then they get to come see me in study hall. Instead of relying on the teachers to do something about it, the students need to do something about their grades. It's not about the struggle. It's how you deal with it," he said.