Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/818526
28 UCW MAY 3-9, 2017 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM There's something old in Brian Randolph's world these days, but everything else is definitely something new. The old part is Randolph is back at Jack Britt High School as a teacher and coach, but not like he used to be. Instead of a football assistant, he's head of the program for the Buccaneers. He also finds himself in the unenviable role of trying to rebound from the school's worst record ever and only the second losing record since Britt opened its doors in 2000, a mark of 3-8 that included failing to qualify for the state 4-AA playoffs. Add to that the challenge of joining Cumberland County rival Seventy-First and moving into the newly-named Sandhills Athletic Conference with traditional powers Scotland, Richmond Senior and Pinecrest, and you can see Randolph has a full plate. But he's borrowing from the lessons learned from his high school coach, Douglas Byrd's multiple hall of famer Bob Paroli. "One of the big things he preached was focusing on the details and being tough,'' Randolph said. "The game is won in the trenches. If you make practice harder than the games, the games will be easy.'' Outgoing Jack Britt coach Brian Rimpf had to declare in December whether Britt would choose to hold spring practice in late May with the full squad or be limited to 21 players per day and hold workouts in April. He chose the latter. Randolph isn't a big fan of the plan because football players taking part in spring sports can't practice football, but he's making it work. "We want to get morale back and implement our base offense and defense,'' he said. "Once summer starts we can do finer detail things.'' C.J. Davis, a wide receiver who'll be a senior in the fall, said things have already changed under Randolph. "We are more disciplined,'' he said. "We're trying to forget last year and move on. We're expecting bigger and better things. We don't plan on going 3-8 again.'' Davis said the primary goal in the spring workouts is to learn the new offense. "If we learn the playbook, get the plays down, get them running smoothly, we'll do just fine and practice will be easier,'' he said. He said the team is excited about the move into the new conference. "It's going to be a real good test we've been put into,'' he said. He expects the Buccaneers will be competitive if they can keep their composure and remain disciplined. Randolph is also looking forward and not letting the 3-8 record hang like an albatross from the neck of his new team. "A 3-8 season does not destroy a program,'' Randolph said. "As my old coach used to say, 'Let the chips fall where they may.' '' EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-987-5311 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS Dr. Christopher Dague, baseball coach and advanced placement history teacher at Jack Britt High School, remembers Nick Galban as a hard-working student-athlete with a big heart. "I always felt like no matter what Nick was doing he was going to exceed expectations in terms of work, effort and attitude,'' Dague said. But Dague had no idea one of Galban's first altruistic efforts would be to offer a hand to his former teacher and baseball coach. Galban, who studied engineering at N.C. State and is about to begin an internship at a firm in Wilmington, has created a GoFundMe page to help Dague and others. Called the Dana and Dague Fund, it's designed to raise money for 23 people in Fayetteville and Cumberland County that Galban hopes to help with educational expenses. His goal is to raise $10,200 by the start of school this fall and then distribute it to the people on his list. The fund is named for Galban's mother and Dague. He chose to honor his mom because of her role as a single parent raising Galban and his siblings. Galban said he picked Dague because he was the kind of teacher who stayed on top of his students. "He was always making sure you were doing the right thing, even when no one was looking,'' Galban said. "He stressed that was the time you needed to be doing it right. He never gave up on me.'' Dague said Galban was among a handful of players at Britt who played for him when he was both junior varsity and varsity baseball coach at the school. "He was a great kid who worked hard,'' Dague said. Galban's decision to give back to education came as no surprise to Dague. "He sees the value of education,'' Dague said. "It's a cool thing to see a student who is reflective on his own life at that young an age.'' Dague said any donation is appreciated by teachers these days. "Teachers are always being creative in trying to find new ways to engage students,'' he said. "That takes money.'' In addition to the money, Galban said he's working with the Middle Creek High School girls' soccer team to add an additional donation to the package. The soccer team has taken on Galban's cause and will be collecting various school supplies and packing them in gift bags to give to a group of 13 students he's identified to benefit from his charity. "It's selfless of them to contribute because they won't reap the benefits,'' he said. If you'd like to donate to Galban's GoFundMe project, the web address is www.gofundme.com/ the-dana-dague-fund. Former Britt Student Raising Money to Help Others by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Dr. Christopher Dague Nick Galban Attention Students: Do you have a story or idea to share with High School Highligts? Email us at highschoolhighlights@upandcomingweekly.com Randolph Facing Multiple Challenges at Britt by EARL VAUGHAN JR. C.J. Davis Brian Randolph