Inside Two Bulldogs teams win championships Page B2
B Section
Sports BELVOIR EAGLE
and Recreation
November 19, 2015
Timeout Where it begins By Rick Musselman Sports editor
Photo by Rick Musselman
Fort Belvoir community members leave the starting gate of the 2015 DFMWR Turkey Trot 10K race, Saturday near Pullen Field.
Turkey Trot draws large turnout By Rick Musselman Sports editor More than 400 community members braved frigid temperatures and gusty winds to compete in the installation’s 7th annual Turkey Trot 5K/10K race, Saturday near Pullen Field. Participants competed for holiday prizes, including grand-prize Thanksgiving turkeys awarded to
Overall Winners
• Men’s 5K: Kevin Gotfredson • Women’s 5K: Wendy Shaha • Men’s 10K: Douglas Boorstein • Women’s 10K: Yuko Whitestone the top finishers in each male and female overall division and pies for the 1st place winners in each male and female age category. Race categories included overall male and female 5K; overall male
and female 10K; overall male and female in the 10-and-younger, 1115, 16-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 5059 and 60-and-older age divisions; and overall male and female adaptive/hand-recumbent cycle. For more information about fitness opportunities on post, visit http://belvoir.armymwr.com/us/belvoir/categories/sports-and-fitness. Full results will be published in next week’s edition.
Belvoir Bulldogs wrap up season with Dawg Bowl tournament By Rick Musselman Sports editor The Fort Belvoir Bulldogs brought the 2015 Fairfax County Youth Football League season to a close with dynamic contests in every weight division as part of the annual Dawg Bowl series, Sunday at Pullen Field. Fort Belvoir’s youth football and cheerleading league is sponsored and coordinated by CYSS, under the directorship of Program Director Jerry Arrington. All youth registered with CYSS are eligible to participate in the annual sports program. For more information about the league, call Jerry Arrington at 703-805-9139; Julie Libert at 703-805-9138; or visit http://fcyfl.org.
Photo by Rick Musselman
Belvoir Bulldogs running back, Julius Downing, 8, breaks an American Pride tackle and charges down the sideline during his team's Anklebiter Division-2 Dawg Bowl matchup, Sunday at Pullen Field.
A few Saturdays ago, while covering a Belvoir Bulldogs youth football season closer, I once again got reminded of, not only why I love working for the military, but also that inspiring displays of humanity can still be found. In a culture that identifies successful citizens along lines of what lofty professional positions they’ve achieved, what salaries they earn, and what sorts of houses and automobiles they’re spending that cash on, it’s always deeply disappointed me that so many people, because of these strange societal standards, go totally unnoticed in their day-to-day goodness — the folks who go out of their way to give somebody a pat on the back or a kind word when they know that person is having a bad day. I guess you can’t very well spend kindness at the luxury car dealership, so it doesn’t make for much conversation at dinner parties. Nevertheless, special (and usually quite unheralded) moments do indeed appear that always leave me with a sense that I’ve just received a rare and precious gift, one I really ought to put in a safe place inside. And such a moment made its presence known that Saturday. The Bulldogs were struggling against a powerhouse opponent that went into the game as the top-ranked team in their age division. It seemed like no matter what Belvoir tried to do against this colossus, the fates just weren’t granting so much as a hint of a break. And as such, gazes and spirits were going south in a hurry. Now, when I played youth sports back in the 1970s, there were many coaches who responded to such downward trends with frustration and criticism that one might expect from a trainer in the pros (or maybe a drill instructor in the Marine Corps). On this particular Saturday, however, I saw something refreshing and faith redeeming. When the Bulldogs came off the field, heads hung low, the assistant coach stepped up, high-fived everyone in uniform and displayed the unconditional regard and perspective that is the hallmark of leadership at this level. “Hey, you all played like champions out there,” he said. “I saw great things on that field and you can hold your heads high.” That attitude, further expressed by the many positive words that followed, is where self esteem and confidence begin. And, my takeaway was that, sure, there are losses, but never failures, and as long as there are coaches like the ones we have here on post, these kids will always be able to get back up when they take a fall.