Where Will Your Vision Take You?

I founded the Big City Football organization in 2005 because I did not like the culture of the local youth football programs. It began as a summer camp for youth ages 8-14. Parents liked what we were doing and asked if we would expand into teams and a league. I had no plan to go this far, but I had a vision of what this could become and began the process of building.

I needed a field and there was an abandoned playground in the northeast area of Detroit where I planned to start. It was overgrown with weeds, tall grass, and a dumping ground for debris. I drove my car to the field and began to haul off the debris until the field was cleared. I packed up my lawnmower, went to the field and began to cut the overgrown grass. A neighbor in the community knew it would take me days to cut the grass with my lawnmower. He had a riding mower and came to help me cut the grass.

Once the grass was cut, I needed bleachers and benches. I went to a local lumber yard and had wood donated to build bleachers and player benches. I needed to stripe the field and a local building supply company donated chalk. Volunteers build the bleachers and benches. They put up the goal posts and got the field ready for play. I wrote a few small grants and got equipment donated. I needed some start up money and went door to door in my neighborhood sharing my vision with local businesses. In one day I raised $1,200.00. I took part of my retirement savings and purchased uniforms and field equipment. Young men I mentored became my assistants and coaches in the league. My wife became a team mom and ran the concession stand. She purchased equipment to help make this important area run smoothly.

Lastly, I needed children to field teams. I had some yard signs printed and placed them strategically through the city. I had enough children to field four teams which I called "The Big City Chiefs". Other teams heard about my vision and in our first year of operation, we had over 1,000 young men and women participating in football and cheerleading. Other teams in the area could not compete with our success and folded. We partnered with other leagues in the state of Michigan and in Ohio which allowed our youth to travel and gain exposure. Exposure was a key part of my vision. We also raised money for an all-star team to travel to Orlando, Florida and participated in a Thanksgiving tournament. This was all done in our first year.

I was asked to sit on the Michigan Board of Directors for USA Football, the youth regulatory arm of the National Football League (NFL). In 2012, Big City Football was recognized by the NFL as one of the top 150 youth football organizations in the United States. The NFL flew me to Canton, Ohio for Hall of Fame weekend where I met NFL players, toured the Hall of Fame enshrinement, and shared my vision with other youth football league commissioners. This was one of the greatest experiences of my life and one of my fondest memories.

Once my son began to play high school football, I wanted to be a dad and support his high school football endeavors. There were not enough men willing to continue building Big City Football based on the values and foundation I laid. The organization dissolved after the 2013 season.

We had our challenges from rival leagues threatened by our success. Men with faulty motives tried to slander my reputation and keep other teams from joining us. Someone set a portion of our field on fire to stop us from recruiting children, trying to force them to join mediocre teams. The politics of national youth football organizations prevented our kids from getting national exposure they deserved as well as recognition for being excellent student athletes. None of it worked and to this day, the children who played with Big City remark that it was their best youth sports experience. I was later approached by men of rival leagues to be their commissioner, but declined.

There are hundreds of companies that exist today because of the vision from one man or woman. Many of these companies are over a hundred years old. We benefit from their programs and services because they were steadfast and unmovable despite relentless pressure to give up and quit. These visionaries endured, sacrificed, and paved the way for other innovators to see their dreams become realities. The vision always outlives the visionary and while many pioneers have gone into eternity, their inspirations continue to live and thrive. These innovations improved our quality of life and their products fill our homes, garages, and buildings with conveniences.

Your vision will take you as far as you believe. It does not matter if others don't believe you. Stay diligent. Stay consistent. Never quit or give up. Where there vision, there is provision and at the appointed time, you will see the manifestation of your hopes and dreams. This Thanksgiving, let's remember to thank those visionaries for not quitting so we could live life comfortably.