From “Bummed Out” to Sports Star

Daniel transferred to his new middle school in the beginning of 6th grade. After a few weeks, the AEF Middle School Sports coach, who is also a P.E. teacher at the school, noticed he was hanging by himself and had little enthusiasm. Daniel told the coach he was having a hard time making friends and was feeling  “bummed out”. The coach suggested sports as a way for him to get involved.

The coach realized he had no experience with any sports, so he started showing him some fundamentals with a basketball and soon noticed he was pretty athletic and had good hand-eye coordination. On top of that, he was a “super nice kid”, according to the coach, and a great student, so the coach decided to work with him on occasion. Daniel eventually learned how to shoot and handle a basketball, and so the coach encouraged him to tryout for the AEF boys basketball program.  He did, and had a great year; he made new friends and learned the game of basketball. Being taller than most of his peers, he found that he had an advantage and began to be an important part of something special. The other kids literally looked up to him. After that season, the coach started talking to him about the idea of volleyball. He learned the skills and tried out the next year, making the Division II team and then guiding his team to a championship. Since then, he has played both sports every year and has had an incredible experience at his school. High school coaches have asked about him, seen him, and it looks like he has tremendous opportunities ahead. The coach attributes this to AEF for having this sports program available, and believes  “this child’s life might have been changed forever”  through his participation in the sports program.