Local coaches provide tutoring sessions for youth

Published 5:00 am Thursday, October 30, 2014

Cordera Eason remembers his tutoring sessions with coach Adrian Hopkins back when he was a young football player for the Meridian youth football league.

Eason, the former Meridian High School, Ole Miss and Cincinnati Bengals running back, said tutoring served two purposes back then — teaching him the importance of studying and building relationships with his teammates.

“Everyone came together and built camaraderie between the players and coaches, and we used that to bond throughout the season,” Eason said. “It paid off.”

Now a coach for the same football league, Eason is one of several coaches for the Meridian White pee wee football squad, which is made up of sixth-graders, who helps lead tutoring sessions just like he experienced as a child.

“THis makes a huge difference,” Eason said. “When you’re studying as one, you get confidence. Tutoring helped a lot in high school and college. The more heads you have combined, it helps you study.”

Hopkins, also a coach of the Meridian White team, said approximately half the squad attends the session once a week. The team met Wednesday night at Rush Hospital. Remembering Eason’s squad, Hopkins said he has the same vision for this group of youth that he had back in the day.

“Back then, 80 percent of that team was below average with their report card because they focused so much on sports,” Hopkins said. “We took the kids who were performing above average and paired them with the kids who were performing below average and paired them, and it brought everyone’s averages up. It also helped us grow closer as a team — we went undefeated that year, and a lot of those kids are still pretty close.”

With the players starting junior high football in seventh grade, Hopkins said it’s important they learn how to study and do well in school, not just to stay eligible for football, but to have an educational future beyond high school.

“Most of these young men look up to the coaches more than they do teachers, principals and sometimes even the parents,” Hopkins said. “For a coach to show them that school is important, it gives them a sense of prioritizing the right stuff. They’ll see the person they look up to the most cares about what they need to be caring about.”

Eason said a group of coaches who care about young players’ future is just what these children need.

“We needed it in this city, because a lot of talent isn’t getting exposed since we’re competing with the street,” Eason said. “I wanted to help give these kids hope. I can point to my life and say, ‘I did the same thing we want y’all to do, and look where I ended up.'”

Defensive lineman/linebacker Jatavious Harris, 11, said he understands the message the coaches are trying to send.

“They want us to get an education, go to college and get a degree,” Harris said. “(Tutoring) helps a lot, because it teaches you stuff you need to know.”

Teammate Seth Auzenne, 12, said having one another around makes everyone better when it comes to studies.

“It helps us learn together,” Auzenne said. “If one person doesn’t know something, another person can help them, and they can learn more in school.”

It’s also nice to spend quality time with teammates, too.

“It’s fun, because you get to talk when you’re done with everything,” Auzenne added.