Reflecting on how far the program has come fills Turner with pride. A former player at Valdosta State University, he once felt called to leave his mark on the game. Girls flag football became the avenue where he believed he could have the greatest impact.
“Initially my thought process was I will go in and I will build a program.” Turner said. “Start something new.”
Life, though, shifted his perspective.
“My thought process and what God had in his plan was something totally different,” Turner explained. “What ended up happening is I find myself bridging a gap with dads and daughters.”
He recalled a moment when one of his players approached him at the end of a season simply to say thank you for starting the program.
“My dad has never really supported anything that I have done,” Turner remembers the young girl saying. “But being that he can relate to football, there’s a relationship.”
Turner: “That almost brought me to tears.”
That’s why, whenever he can, Turner loads up a bus and makes the trip — no matter the distance — to help grow the game. It’s why, after Tuesday night’s clinic, he and his players climbed back aboard for the long ride home to Valdosta, traffic and all.
He’d do it all over again without hesitation.
“They’re investing a lot into this,” Falcons defensive lineman Ruke Orhorhoro said between drills. “… It’s encouraging to see that people can go out there and have fun, too, it doesn’t just have to be the guys.”