One game at a time — that’s the mantra across the board around the Center Grove High School football team. But just as the players and coaches need to focus on winning the game in front of them before moving on to the next, so do the parents.
There are signs to make, meals to plan and rallies to schedule. Lockers have to be decorated with signs and treat bags have to be assembled.
“You start with planning for Friday’s game right after the previous one happens. You don’t look ahead,” said Shanda Bontrager, a member of the football team’s Parents Club. “For us, as much as we want to plan, we don’t want to assume anything. But we have the belief that we can make it this far.”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryOn the field, in the weight room and in the meeting room, the members of the Center Grove High School football team spent hours and hours preparing their minds and bodies for success. Their work has paid off as they attempt to win back-to-back state championships this weekend.
But behind their efforts are an army of parents helping bring out their best. Already their own kids’ biggest fans, these parents volunteer their time to line up everything from sponsorships to team and individual class dinners and photographs.
“They’re the ones who go out to battle, on Fridays and throughout the week at practice. As parents, we want to keep the mojo going,” said Amber McCoy, the senior representative for the Parents Club. “At the end of the day, win or lose, these young men are going to remember what we did. We’re helping to build them as young men, as leaders in their community, as volunteers in their community.”
Just like the players work year-round to get better and prepare for the upcoming season, the Parents Club is active throughout the year.
The organization is broken down by classes and then divided into committees: parents who organize spirit wear for the fans, put together fundraising car washes or set up traditional tailgates before home games.
Jenny Holdt helps to organize senior dinners on the Thursdays before a game. She makes up flyers encouraging the team, decorates the team’s outdoor locker room and prepares food for the players to energize and bond.
Each meal is sponsored by the players’ families. Before the semistate game against Ben Davis last week, they had a pasta bar to load up on carbs.
“It’s a tradition. As long as I can remember, after practice, the senior players, coaches, managers and trainers all get together,” Holdt said. “It’s a time for the seniors to congregate together and talk about the game the next day. It relaxes them a little bit.”
Then, before the game on Friday, a full team meal is provided. Another parent, Jenny Pence, spearheads the pregame meal. Home games offer the chance to set up a food spread right on Center Grove’s campus, but even for away games, Pence makes sandwiches and other items to pass out for the players to eat on the bus.
The Parents Club meets every Wednesday and tries to take an active role in almost all aspects of supporting the team. In January, a group of parents gather to set a budget for all of the food, signs and other supplies they’ll need.
“They’re life-saving on a lot of different matters,” said Eric Moore, head coach for the Trojans. “They’re a big part of this. Parents want to be involved somehow, and this gives them a great way of doing it.”
That plays into the atmosphere Moore has tried to establish around the Center Grove program. He has focused on having an open door; the more parents, students and supporters who can feel like they’re a part of the team, the better the entire program will be.
“Let it open up,” Moore said. “Not every program has that.”
Parents cut out newspaper articles chronicling the team throughout the year, posting the clippings on a bulletin board inside the team’s locker room.
They also work with student supporters to coordinate events before the games. Every Friday of a home game, a different class organizes a community pitch-in to get all of the fans fired up.
“There’s a lot of community building and involvement, and I think that’s what helps to make the program so strong,” Bontrager said. “People go above and beyond to help these kids out and give them an environment where they will thrive and succeed.”
Bontrager has two children in the Center Grove program. Her son, Logan, is a senior defensive back, while Cole is a sophomore linebacker.
Since the time they were in the Center Grove Bantam Football program in elementary school, the Bontrager family has been active in supporting the players.
“For me, the program is inspiring to the kids even at a young age in bantam football,” she said. “Over time, it’s just progressed into a bigger and bigger role.”
McCoy’s son, Titus, is a senior running back on the team. She has been involved with Center Grove football since this year’s seniors were in sixth grade, so she feels a connection to them and their journey toward a state title.
“I’ve been with these boys as a class representative since these boys were in middle school. I’ve gotten to know the boys, their likes, their dislikes, what gets them motivated and energized,” she said. “And you get to know the parents and how they are. So I do my best to try to motivate and rally the parents, to remind them to help their boys.”
