Rickards: The Power of the Unseen Becoming the Seen...

May 2, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

Seventeen years ago as a teenager, I was watching the local high school baseball tournament held at Godby High School. Growing up in Tallahassee, I was very familiar with the high schools and knew their programs.

Rickards high school was not known for baseball, not in the way that Leon and Lincoln High Schools were. Rickards played Leon for a chance to play in the tournament. They were written off. Leon was defending State Champions, and Rickards, well, was just Rickards. But then the “unseen” of faith became the “seen”. Rickards beat Leon and bought themselves a chance to play in the tournament.

I remember people around me saying, “Even if they lose they got there at least.” But what those who didn’t understand about Rickards was the amount of faith coming out of that program. And Rickards kept winning. Seventeen years ago they took the district title and moved on. The Coach at the time had shirts made for everyone to wear that said, “Heart and Desire”.

That was their motto and not only in words, they were living it out. I remember watching the news each night and seeing their progress. The community could not believe it. But knowing the strength of the men on the team, I could very well believe it, I could almost predict it. The Rickards (then) Redskins won the 1992 District Title. And I know the young man who played Catcher for the team, Brian Kelley. I later married him.

Seventeen years later, as Head Coach, Brian Kelley led Rickards (now) Raiders to their first District Championship since he was on the field as a player. And that is not the end to the story, but just the beginning. And many wonder what is the secret that brought another title in 2009 to a Coach who was one of the same players in the 1992 Championship. But I know the secret now as I did back then. It takes much more than Coaching, it takes “Heart and Desire”.

Coach Kelley does not just Coach those kids, he loves them. If someone was hungry he would give them his last few dollars and go hungry to make sure they were taken care of. Trust me on this one, I have seen it.

For so long Rickards was just “that” school on the south side of Tallahassee. Many would say bad things in discussing it, but then say, “Well they do have an International Baccalaureate program”. That program is one of the top in the nation.

But what most fail to see about Rickards is the sense of community that is there. Yes, there are fights. But families that stay together learn how to fight and make up, not holding grudges. And there is love and pride. Those who were privileged enough to enjoy that sense of community at Rickards are giving back to it with a pure heart. They believe in the good, they know the capability, and they know what the outcome can be. And Coach Kelley does. He knows how to overcome being told that he is an underdog not expected to win. He knows how to overcome what is being said about his team, and not with words, but through playing on the field.

When he first started his coaching career there, I went to one of the first games Rickards had against Florida High. I looked at Florida High’s field and how beautiful it was. Signs recognizing players and championships hung on the fences. And sponsor signs galore. The players were decked to the nines, with matching bat bags, windbreakers, you name it. And Rickards had nothing close.

Materials don’t make the team, Coach Kelley said, but he sought out to give his boys a sense of pride and with the help of the county, boosters, parents, and players, he transformed the old Rickards Baseball into the new. The field was renovated, dugouts painted, new clothing ordered. Now the players are proud to have someone play them at home, and they look just like every other team when they go somewhere, decked to the nines.

But they had to work to get it, and that makes them more than those who look good individually, it makes them a team.

And they will never take it for granted. Coach Kelley would rather be the one not expected to win, so that his team learns to work for it. It is the faith that counts. And Rickards is surviving it. They are showing others that the “unseen” becomes the “seen”. Coach Kelley’s favorite motto: Faith. “We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7.

And I would say after this championship, living by faith is what proves the skeptics wrong, strengthens the resolve of those who believe, and gives hope for the next game.