WINTER HAVEN (Nov. 28, 2023) – The Winter Haven Youth Sports Flag Division Football Team, the Wolverines, have an extra spring in their step – after taking the SuperBowl Title at the MFFCC Championship weekend as the team traveled to Daytona Beach – beating the Tri County Cobras, 26-21 and bringing home the crystal 1st Place trophy. The Wolverines seniors team placed runner-up in their division.
Head Coach Desroy Black II is known for saying to the young team of 4-6 year-olds, “How do you feel? I feel good! How do you feel? I feel fired up!”
“A lot of them were first time football players,” said Wolverine team board member and media relations manager LaDonna Samuel.
This is the second time the team, which has been around nearly two decades in Winter Haven, has won the Superbowl title, with Winter Haven Youth Sports President Bernita Riley at the helm the last 18 years.
“It’s a good experience for the kids,” Samuel said.
“We are right here in Winter Haven – we practice and play at Lake Maude Sports Complex,” she added.
And the team travels, as well – taking to Daytona 20 of the team’s 31 players.
The WH Youth Sports Organization has both football and baseball teams.
The Wolverines have a great reputation in the sports world.
“They are known for their dedication … the way they follow directions,” Samuel said. “The coaches have them so well disciplined … their discipline is what took them the furthest.”
Two of the team’s coaches are fairly new, two are seasoned, and they work together to make sure the boys stay in tune with what’s going on.
“Coaching takes a lot of patience,” Samuel notes.
Two team moms help with hydration, keeping the sideline in order, and keeping the team safe.
One of the team members is autistic, Samuel said, and the team moms and coaches keep a careful eye out. “They still made sure that kid was safe,” she says.
The team is reachable, cost-wise, as well. Because of fundraising and grants, about 80 percent of the team does not have to pay to play.
Youth sports is good for kids, Samuel said, a former cheerleader in her youth.
Skills developed keep the kids safe and healthy as they condition and train, she adds.
Additionally, although the children are very little, “it helps keep them networking,” Samuel said.
“Kids need other kids. They need friends. You take those friendships along with you, and that is really good for the children. It helps them build character.”
“For the older boys, it helps keep them off the streets, gives them something positive to look forward to,” she adds.
Post pandemic, the team has swelled and is growing.
“We do have a larger amount of children than we had before. It is so good to see the kids out and about, and to be able to enjoy each other,” she says, noting it helps them as all the kids are not the same ethnicity nor do they have the same backgrounds.
Coach Terel Farlow says he felt confident going to Daytona to compete, once his team started playing together.
So far, they are a second half team, but that doesn’t seem to matter, as the Wolverines defeated 8 other teams to compete in Daytona.
Is Farlow surprised at their victory, given the young ages of the team members?
“Yes, I am surprised,” he admits, but says he is thankful.
The goal?
“Play as a team, and snatch flags,” he says.
