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Saturday, November 1, 2008
Championships Taught Titans Never to Give up
Raleigh Durham, NC
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The Wake Forest Titans are about believing. Believing in themselves, their coaches and in each other. Their story is about coming back from defeat and learning to win.
The first Titans team came together when they were kids. Qualifying as Tiny Mites in the Pop Warner age and weight brackets, these little guys were no older than seven, and weighed no more than 75 pounds.
“The first year, we lost the first four games in a row,” Coach Andy Garrity remembered. “But I started hearing that there were opportunities for us to go to a national championship, and I wanted to see just how far this team could go.”
That first year, the little Titans did not go very far, closing out their season 4-5. But they stuck together and the next year, as Mighty Mites, they went 7-3, to qualify for a bowl game.
In 2005, they had graduated to the Junior Pee Wee level and went undefeated, winning their first Pop Warner Championship at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL. They returned to Disney twice more, losing the championship game as Pee Wees in 2006, but coming back to claim their second title as Junior Midgets the following year.
“I worked hard to make the game enjoyable. My philosophy is it’s just as much fun to win as it is to lose,” Garrity said.
Taylor Bagley spent six years playing for the Titans, and enjoyed winning both championships.
“The first year we played, we lost most of our games, and sometimes I wanted to quit,” he admitted.
Taylor hung in, surprising even himself when his team turned its fortune around and won the national title.
“I was shocked. I didn’t think we would go all the way, but being undefeated was a real confidence booster,” he said.
Taylor, who played running back and corner back for the Titans, now plays flanker and safety at Heritage Middle School. He is already excited about his upcoming freshman year at Wake Forest Rolesville High School, and though he expects to start out on the junior varsity team, he plans to work hard to make varsity. He understands the rewards that come from hard work.
“The biggest lesson I have learned is to never give up, and if you lose, just work harder and try to win the next game,” he said.
Jake Britt, 14, has fun playing football even when his team loses. He’s a freshman at Wake Forest Rolesville High School, but still plays wide receiver and linebacker for the Titans. He enjoys making the big hits.
Myles Brown, 13, came to Raleigh from Massachusetts where the team he played on was not very good. It didn’t take long for him to discover how much he enjoys winning. The 8th grader is a starting tight end on the Ravenscroft’s junior varsity team.
“I always get pre-game jitters, and when we run onto the field. It’s such a rush to let it all out,” he said. “That’s what I like best about playing football, that rush.”
For the coach, taking the kids from losing every game to becoming national champions is his big reward.
Garrity is taking a break from coaching, and most of the Titans players have moved on to play football at area middle and high schools, taking their love of the game with them.
“I am extremely proud of this team,” he said. “Even if these kids don’t play football anymore, they will have something to remember all their lives.”
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