A team with heart - Pop Warner team gives $18,000 saved for Hawaii trip to fire victims

An amazing thing happened on November 10 at the Fallbrook High School football stadium. The Pop Warner Warrior Nation football team decided to forgo the funds they had raised to enable them to play in the Hawaii Bowl this month and instead gave the $18,000 to three Pop Warner families significantly affected by the Fallbrook (Rice Canyon) Fire.

During halftime, an official presentation of the funds was made to the Maddock, Dalton and Ratz/Sacks families. Before Allan Brassard, president of Fallbrook Pop Warner, presented the check, Warrior Nation Head Coach Shawn Coleman and Assistant Coach Tony Arand shared some heartfelt words.

A choked-up Coleman spoke softly into the microphone, “We want to extend our hand of support. From our family to your family, we offer this token of assistance.”

Arand said that being a coach for Pop Warner means teaching kids to do the right thing – for the right reasons.

Foregoing a trip to Hawaii and giving the money to fire victims of the Pop Warner family was the right thing to do, he said.

“We hope in some way this will help you rebuild your dreams,” Arand said.

Brassard thanked team members and parents for their generosity and the sacrifice they made to help the families. “We are here for the kids,” he said. “It’s all about the kids.”

Theresa Dalton, a victim of the fire, remains astounded by the generosity of the Warrior Nation football team.

“We thank them from the bottom of our hearts,” said Dalton. “We can’t replace what was lost, but their giving spirit is something we will never forget.”

Pop Warner football player Issac Ratz stood closely to his mother, Lisa Sacks, and her husband, Noah. His mother was clearly overwhelmed by the financial support.

“We were blown away by this,” said Lisa Sacks, whose family was affected by the firestorm. “There are no words to express how incredible it is that this football team would sacrifice going to Hawaii for those of us who lost homes in the fire.”

Sacks said being at the game also lifted the spirits of her family, who have experienced the emotional upheaval of being fire victims.

When Coleman first approached his team about donating their Hawaii funds to help the fire victims, he was not surprised at their response. The 35 team members, ranging in age from 9 to 11, had clearly seen the aftermath of the fire and the destruction it brought to their small town.

In the blink of an eye, the team agreed to cancel their trip to help the families. In fact, they were excited about doing it, said Coleman.

“I expected the response that I got from these kids,” Coleman said. Since the beginning of the football season, Coleman has endeavored to teach them that God has given them a heart to be the best that they can.

Being a coach, Coleman said, means helping these kids take the right steps toward adulthood.

“We should teach these future men that we commit not only to our own goals but to also the community as a whole,” he noted.