As a man of faith, Newton County football coach Gene Mitchell always thought it was his responsibility to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He found an avenue for it in the form of his annual 7-on-7 Faith and football day. Mitchell said nine teams and almost 300 players showed up to attend the event at Newton County High School.
“It had always been my dream as a head coach to find a way to incorporate faith and football,” Mitchell said. “Years ago when everybody was going to these 7-on-7s, it was all about football. I saw it as a great opportunity to talk about more important things like life and eternity. Football is the tool to get them here and gives someone like Rev. (Larry) Reed a platform to talk about things that last a lifetime.”
Joining Newton County was Leake County, Leake Academy, Noxapater, Lake, Sebastopol, Northeast Lauderdale, Bay Springs and Scott Central.
“We had nine teams in attendance and over 300 players, coaches and cheerleaders here. Three hundred students were in attendance here today,” Mitchell said. “Our numbers are up, I think we’ve had five or six teams in the past. Up until Monday, we were going to have 10 teams. It’s a good thing, because you get to play a little football, guys get a free lunch and a free t-shirt. From my perspective, they get exposed to things that will impact them for eternity and that’s the gospel.”
While Mitchell is a football coach, he wanted to make sure that everyone understood that his faith comes first.
“If you will notice, Faith has a capital letter and football has a lowercase letter on the shirt,” Mitchell said. “That’s what’s important for a lifetime and that’s our faith. It’s some good players that show up at these 7-on-7s but at some point down the road, football isn’t going to be their life any more. They are going to have to live out there in the real world and if your life isn’t based on faith, you are going to struggle.”
Reed gave the message to the players and coaches after a morning of 7-on-7.
“He doesn’t hold back the truth,” Mitchell said. “He’s not scared to say what he needs to say to these young men. Just like today, he speaks from his life and things that have happened in his life. You win in all aspects when you get to do something like this.”
The event is held with the help of The Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
