This fall, the Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) varsity football team took its annual trip to The Miracle League in Frisco, a sports organization for special needs children. The team spent the morning playing soccer, baseball and bowling with league participants.
“Every kid should have the opportunity to learn and participate in sports,” said Steve Hayes, athletic director and head football coach for TCA. “Miracle League gives these kids a chance to discover something they could be incredibly passionate about but might not have been exposed to otherwise.”
The Miracle League offers disabled children ages five through 19, who are often prevented from joining regular teams, an opportunity to play sports, including soccer, bowling, baseball, football, track and basketball. Nationally, there are 250 Miracle League organizations that strive to provide a positive athletic experience for more than 200,000 physically or mentally handicapped children.
This is the team’s sixth year to volunteer with the organization. Other TCA sports teams have also taken time from their busy training schedules to focus on giving back. Recently, the girls varsity and junior varsity basketball teams spent a Saturday volunteering at a fall carnival for Especially Needed, another Frisco-based non-profit that serves special needs children and their families.
"It’s fun getting to do volunteer work like this with your teammates and coaches,” current TCA football captain Brock Bacon said. “Being able to make a lasting difference in someone else’s life is more important than winning games or scoring touchdowns, and I think it’s really awesome that we get to spend time with these kids and remind ourselves of what really matters.”
TCA believes community outreach is an essential part of building well-rounded individuals. In addition to learning excellence in academics and athletics, students are instilled with a sense of service and desire to better their surrounding communities.
"One of the best things kids can learn from athletics is the importance of being a true team player, and at TCA we believe that goes beyond just sports,” Hayes said. “Being a team player in the communities and lives of others is something our athletes consistently practice, our coaches value and our school strongly supports.”
TCA Upper School students spend over 20,000 hours volunteering each year. Servant leadership is one of the core values instilled in TCA students, and it is evident from the countless hours students and staff dedicate to giving back to the community each year.
About Trinity Christian Academy
Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) is an independent coeducational school, which offers families and their children a demanding, college preparatory curriculum within a Christian community. For more than 40 years, TCA has followed the goals of the founding board members of being a debt-free facility. TCA strives to honor God in the way it uses the funds that continue to be given to the school.