Istrouma teaching life lessons through sports

It’s not about the trophies.

That’s one way that coach M.L. Woodruff describes Istrouma Sports. The goal behind the program, an outreach of Istrouma Baptist Church, is to teach kids about life’s important values through sports.

Sports are not here to teach kids selfishness, Woodruff explains. Yet that’s often what coaches end up promoting.

“We create little monsters,” he says. “I think we’re supposed to use sports in a better way.”

It’s not about the trophies at Istrouma, although the kids do win awards. There’s the Paul award for leadership, for instance, and the Timothy award for being a good friend, and the Barnabas award for encouraging others. These are nuances that might be missed if the emphasis were only on getting the score.

Coaches at Istrouma attend seminars to learn how to guide kids on the field and in life. In its second year, the program offers flag football, basketball and baseball. In July the program will sponsor a mission trip to Puerto Rico.