Religion

HEFLIN — On a football field behind the Cleburne Medical Clinic where staggered telephone poles offer the only shade against an afternoon so hot it would make a cactus sweat, 5-year-old Garrett Wilson is running with his eyes closed.

Once the ball is in his tiny hands, Garrett is a blur of flapping yellow flags.

"I don't always look where I'm going," Garrett says with a proud grin. "But I get there … fast.

"I'm the running back. They give me the ball and I go."

Garrett plays for the Fever. His is one of three teams practicing in the sweltering Tuesday afternoon heat, running drills and plays designed to teach the fundamentals of flag football.

But on this field, dancing isn't only for touchdowns — most kids are dancing at the line of scrimmage before the ball's even been snapped — and thanking God isn't reserved for victorious post-game press conferences.

This is flag football — Upward style.

What began in 1986 with 27 children in a basketball gym in Spartanburg, S.C., has grown into a nationwide Christian sports league with nearly 500,000 kids in kindergarten through sixth grade participating in everything from cheerleading to soccer, basketball to flag football all with the goal of teaching faith and self-esteem through sports.

"It's good Christian fellowship," says league commissioner David Houston, leaning against his Ford F150 pick—up and watching as the local Upward teams practice on the field below. "We're all trying to serve as solid witnesses and role models of Christ by showing these kids what it means to be a positive influence."

Mostly known for basketball and soccer, Upward flag football is a relatively new program. Heflin First Baptist Church is one of nearly 2,000 churches to offer Upward flag football but the only local congregation.

"We've been sold on Upward and what it offers kids and families for a while," says Philip Morris, who is both pastor of Heflin First Baptist Church and coach of the Fever. "We also wanted to find something that was fun but didn't compete with anything else around.

"Besides, this is football USA, so it just made sense."

As with all Upward sports, the idea is that every child gets equal opportunity to play and enjoy time in the spotlight. During the games, which are played on Saturday mornings, nobody really keeps score, both teams get the ball the same amount of time and conflicts are handled with a quick hand of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"That settles everything real quick," Houston says, adjusting his Panama Jack hat to block the sun's glare. "There's nothing left to argue about."

But what truly separates Upward from other recreational programs are the devotionals. At half time of games and during breaks at practice, the kids gather on the grass while their coaches follow Bible lessons as planned out in the Upward handbook. After practice, the children are given a Bible verse to learn and discuss the next week.

With his team sipping on water bottles and sweating through to their socks, Philip Morris called for everyone to sit down as he changed from coach to preacher. Morris knelt in front of the children and read the week's Bible lesson, which came from Ephesians and dealt with concept of cleanliness and how Jesus' sacrifice forgave the world of its sins.

"Jesus died to make us all clean," he says in the practiced tone of a children's minister. "Now that might sound weird, but the Bible says it was his blood that made us all clean and freed us of sin."

There's a heavy silence as the team, staring down at their shoes, give this a few moments to sink in. Then finally, "I like to be clean," says 8—year—old Caitlin Butler, the only girl on the Fever.

With that, the kids all giggle and nod before Morris asks for prayer requests. Caitlin, again, is the first to speak, asking the group to pray for Toots, her cat that's made an unexpected trip to the vet.

Once practice is over and the kids are dousing each other with water bottles and chasing after butterflies, Caitlin puts the whole Upward experience into perspective.

"I love football and I love learning about Jesus," she says, giggling "This way, I get to do both."