Bringing People Together

Team sports help transform players, coaches, schools and communities

By Roger Sheppard

The TAMUT Eagles women’s soccer team played against Arlington Baptist University on September 14, 2021. The Eagles celebrated their 5-0 win. (Photo by John Bunch)

A team sport includes any sport where individual players are grouped into opposing teams which compete to win. Team members act together toward a shared objective. This can be accomplished in a number of ways such as scoring more points than the opposing team. What effects does team sports have on the people in communities? What lessons are taught that advance the positive nature of boys and girls as well as the coaches and adults in charge and the fans that make up the entire sports universe?

October 4, 1952, was the day that I arrived on this earth.  For 69 years, I have been exposed to team sports. At the age of 7 years, I began a 60-year journey on the trail of team sports. My father and mother were disciples of the team sports concept. They guided me toward the importance of VICTORY, and we were instructed to be positive and ready to play. The importance of preparation and motivation was paramount.  We were expected to work hard, and we were EXPECTED to WIN. Participation was the first half, and WINNING was the second. 

John Morris Deal and Beau Haynes, players for the Astros’ Dixie Youth Baseball team, display a celebratory elbow bump after a game.

Being around the team sports scene in the Texarkana area for 50+ years gives me the qualifications for judging the positive effects on our communities. The Big Four – Texas High, Pleasant Grove, Liberty-Eylau and Arkansas High – have all seen the highs and the lows of the effects of team sports as it relates to the positivity of its community.  For 32 years, I printed tee shirts for area sports teams and let me tell you “winning” was the motivation for the number of spirit shirts sold. The community would come together on a winning campaign and would scatter like rats during a losing one. 

Passion is the foundation for excellence. Passion is the elixir that transforms someone from average to excellent. That transformation creates a special sense of splendor in the neighborhood. Winning creates smiles and good stories of pride and accomplishment where losing creates exactly the opposite.

Coach Josh Gibson surrounded by the 2019 state champion Pleasant Grove Hawk football team. During a Four States Living Magazine interview with Coach Gibson in 2017, he said that he teaches his players all-around development centered around four core values: building relationships, growth, accountability, and belief.

I witnessed an amazing transformation of a community the first year that Josh Gibson walked into the captain’s seat in 2014. I observed a magical involvement with players, parents and coaches. This amazing coach connected early with everyone in the Pleasant Grove community bringing them all to the rail of victory. The excitement and camaraderie that was created was genuine and true.  

Roger played for the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs in 1973.

Each community has its own dynamic and handles success and failure in its own unique way.   What is common to all communities is the positive impact that team sports has on its people.

A native of Hooks, and longtime resident of Texarkana, Texas, Roger Sheppard studied physics, chemistry and biology at Louisiana Tech University.  He worked many years as a professional musician and motivational speaker before becoming a self-employed entrepreneur.  He is the founder of Nautilus of Texarkana, Magic Profits Fundraiser, Sports Magic Screen Printing and Embroidery, Competitive Edge Magazine, and now Redbone Magic Brewery.  #maketexarkanafunagain is his passion.