I tried to get this up yesterday. i thought it would be a great way to conclude the month of October...since it did happen on October 31st, but I just did not have time....
So here I am November 1st..wondering how has time gone by so fast.....
Yesterday was a bit of a special day for the Mayo Family. My mother, sister, brother- in-law and myself...(husband was working unfortunately) all met at Witerberry Sports Field in Marco Island. The last game of the Marco Island Eagles Football Season. This was special to us for many reasons...the last bit of my father's coaching career was spent with this young organization. He helped some of the coaches become one and coach the kids of Marco Island on how to play football. Marco was a little behind the times when it came to a youth league. Naples had strongly developed themselves into many "pop-warner" teams and Marco had nothing....
Really, when I moved there sixteen years ago for the fist time, Marco Island really was nothing but old people. Few families and even the YMCA had little programs for kids. The elementary school had one first grade, one second grade, one third grade, and so on. Now things have changed. There are families and children all over the place and the small 4x6 island has developed nicely into a family community. The importance of these youth programs is rising and the members of the community have finally seen the need for them. It's a great way to keep the families of Marco Island together and on the Island. It's turned into a good thing.
So my father's involvement in The Marco Eagle Youth Football Program had basically meant good things for my dad. First it kept him on the Island. And if any of you who read this knew my father and the way he drove and the CAR that he drove, well then you would understand....when he became involved with Barron Collier High School freshman team, mom would cringe each day he would get in the car and drive up to North Naples to the high school. Long drive... So having him a few miles from home was always a good thing. Dad was a born coach too. He LOVED it. It was because of World War II that he became a football coach. Dad had a bright and promising career in the football world as a player in high school, college and most likely a professional league, but he sustained such serious injuries in the war that he could never play football again. Like many he did not give up, he studied the game and turned to coaching. (one thing to keep in mind is that dad was also a fan of all athletics...not just football...athletics itself was regimented, team spirited and brought out the best....just like the military which he also loved.) So he became a coach. From high school coaching to college coaching to professional coaching and scouting and much more, the Marco eagles brought him full circle, literally, for Dad started the first youth football league in the Boston area and now he had ended his career with a youth football league in Marco Island. Funny how these circles in our lives work....
The coaching staff of the Marco Eagles, called my mom and asked her if she would like to come to the field on Saturday Oct 31st and watch some of the kids play and wrap up their season. they also asked her to stay because they were dedicating the new athletic field as well as giving out the First Annual Coach Joe Mayo Award. The great part of it was...it was all such short notice, but my sister, mom and I all had the day off so we could be there. Very Special.
Mom and I were there a bit early and watched some of the little kids play their final game of the season, then it came to field dedication and then the presentation of the Coach Joe Mayo Award.
The head of the Coaching staff told a beautiful story about my dad and I was so touched. The award was given to a great young man who is in charge of the Parks and Recreation Dept. and also a coach with the Eagles. He played an integral part in getting the athletic field up and working and in better condition...what he did really...was give the kids of Marco Island a future.
Mom was to say a little something about dad, but she handed the microphone over to me and I spoke about how much he loved football. But I really spoke about how much heart each player and coach needs. That dad really believed in working together and not winning or losing, but having heart for the game and each other...in ALL sports and ways of life. I also told them that he was always after the perfect team and the perfect coaching staff....it may have taken him 60 plus years, but he found it right there in Marco Island... the small island in south west Florida proved so much happiness for my father at the end of his life. The men that he coached with, the kids that played under him, the mentor he became to all.. It was so nice for us to be there, and to see that although a year has passed in Sept.Daddy's legacy still lives on....
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