Football's Marauder Scholars Making a Difference
10/2/2013 1:38:00 PM | Football
Marauder Scholar creates competition and accountability, encourages team unity and interaction and rewards those that do the right thing. It was started at the beginning of the 2013 season with each coach drafting student-athletes who would earn points based on academic performance and community service.
"Marauder Scholar is an important part of our program," said Breitbach. "It fosters that competitive attitude with encouragement for doing things the right way and helps us build the kind of football program we want by teaching young men exactly what that means."
The program sets lofty goals for its players including a team GPA of 3.0, at least 50 players with a GPA of 3.0 or better, 100 percent attendance for all appointments, and 1,800 hours of community service for the team.
"(Marauder Scholar) helps us create daily habits of accountability off the field so that accountability shows up in everything we do," said Breitbach. "We want to create a culture of giving back to the community and those in need. We want to set our standard of behavior at the highest level possible and be accountable to each other, for each other, and with each other. We create team chemistry by interacting in small teams and competing against each other in small teams. The goal of the competition is doing things with the most discipline, most consistency and most selfless giving attitude. Athletes love to compete. We keep score and reward those that are Marauder Scholars."
Competition among teams has been heated through five weeks, and it is evident that the players are buying into the program. The football program has generated 153 hours of community service in that short span. All of the teams have produced service hours already and the service has come in a variety of ways. Team Breitbach recently read at a local elementary school. Team Sutjak visited with residents of Oak Leaf Manor. Team Mayersky cleaned windows of local businesses. Team Ramos has packed cat food at a local animal shelter a day each week.
At the start of the season, the coaches drafted student-athletes into teams and then chose captains based on academic standing and leadership abilities. These captains are responsible for keeping the coach up to date with community service events and organizing team meetings.
The competition and personal accountability generated off the field will spill over on to the playing field, and Marauder Scholar will help the student-athletes become better students, citizens and football players. The players' activeness in the community may also win the team a few more fans on Saturday afternoon.
Marauder Scholar standings are updated each Tuesday with details on how points were earned or lost for each team. Check the Marauder Scholar tab on the Millersville football web site for a weekly update of the standings.
Saturday, September 19
Saturday, September 12
Wednesday, August 05
Monday, January 19
