By Eleanor Boudreau
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-938464.mp3
Memphis, TN – The State Football Championships--played Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Cookeville, Tennessee--are like the Super Bowl of high school football; and this year the team from Trezevant High School in North Memphis made it to the big game for the first time.
The Trezevant Bears didn't win--the Greeneville Green Devils were bigger and stronger and dominated the entire game, but Trezevant Head Coach Teli White says playing in the championship wasn't about winning for his team, it wasn't even about football; it was about a school known for poor test scores in a neighborhood known for crime finally getting some positive attention.
"We're playing for respect," White said.
And championship or no championship, Trezevant (a team that had never before made it past the first game in the state playoffs) has had a very good season. They won 13 games and lost two.
"I was just surprised," White said.
Last year, when the team wasn't doing as well, White says he had assistant coaches that were constantly yelling.
"In this day and time, just because you tell a kid to do something, doesn't automatically mean he's going to do it," White said.
White prefers to take an explanatory tact with the young players.
"Once they see the logic in it, then, it's like, they'll buy into it," he said.
So White completely cleaned house. He got three brand new assistant coaches, and White says the new blood improved his players' attitudes.
"Those kids will run through a brick wall for them [the new assistants]," White said.
White says just getting to the championship is a victory, "It's like getting a college degree, once you have it nobody can take is away from you."