Myles5

2008 St. Regis Raider Football Season

Part Three – Regular Season

Optional conditioning starts for the Raiders in mid-June. During talk at the beginning, and prayer at the end, of each practice, Coach Mac spoke about Myles being with us and the Raider season being dedicated to Myles' honor. Every huddle throughout every practice ended with the rallying cry, “Myles on 3 ... 1, 2, 3, MYLES!” The sound sent a jolt through you and echoed across the field with every “Myles!” If it got the kids fired up, it jacked the coaches even more. I can’t begin to tell you how it made a father feel. Myles is elated. This practice continued every day of our season right through the Championship game at Ford Field on October 25, 2008.

Our official season started August 11, with 2-a-day practices. We hand out equipment to all players the first 3 days of the week. For the 2008 season, the Raiders have 5 teams – one at each grade 4-8th grade. Over 150 players, 35 coaches and countless parent volunteers. The first night of equipment handout, Coach Mac unveiled the Underarmour team shirts. Red with the Raiders logo on front, the back reads big and bold: #5 … IS ALIVE IN ME – MYLES BECKLEY.  They became fixtures in our community and were seen all over town. We had many requests for the shirts from our growing legion of fans.

All coaches gear this year is embroidered with #5 – our game shirts, hats and outerwear. The players all wore a #5 decal on their helmets. Our footballs all carried a #5. Myles Beckley was listed on each team’s roster as #5, now and forever. His name was announced in stadiums across the Detroit Metro area all season long, including at the championship game at Ford Field. He was listed as RB/LB, fitting his shape and intensity. On the 7th grade team his Dad coached, Myles was selected as a captain by the other coaches.

In addition to all the gear, Tom came to our house and presented our family with the official home and away jerseys of our Varsity teams - #5. Myles’ sister Theresa is the manager for the 7th grade team. At the request of the team, she wore the #5 jersey and joined the other captains for the coin toss at midfield at the start of each game, representing her brother Myles. Shaking hands with the opposing team’s captains, she brought  Myles’ spirit into the heart of each contest.

What a season it was. All our teams played their hearts out and 4 out of 5 teams finished the season with winning records. The 7th grade team was an inspiration all season long. The team was incredibly undersized. We played in the 165 lb weight limit division. Our team’s middle linebacker is 86 lbs. We did not have a back over 100 lbs. Often, our starting lineman were smaller than the opposing teams backs. We could have weighed our players in two at a time.

It looked like we would get run over in every game we played. Our boys won 7 out of 8 of them – losing in a hurricane weekend game, in a foot of standing water. Week after week, the teams just got larger. And every week, our players found a way to win. When the CYO presented our team with the Division championship trophy on Ford Field, the players insisted that it be handed to Theresa first. This team brought sheer joy to our program all season long. Full of bright smiles and vigor, they embodied Myles’ spirit. They tapped into it in every practice and every game.

Our 8th grade Varsity 1 team battled all season long. This is the group of guys that Myles’ dad coached when he first started and they were in 5th grade. They knew Myles as well as anyone. With many setbacks throughout the season, they improved all season long and earned a return trip to Ford Field for the CYO Championship game – the Raiders third straight trip to the finals. Early in the year, it did not look like the team was going to get there. Earning a spot in the playoffs, the Raiders really started to turn it up, getting stronger every game and putting together a great playoff run. The capstone was the semi-final win against a rugged St. Michaels team, picked by many to win.