Emerald High linebacker Christian Foster shows that he can drill into a pole as well as he can drill opposing ball carriers.
By Josh P. Crotzer
It's a popular offensive philosophy across all levels of football—if a play is successful, keep running it.
Since 2013, football players selected to the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl have teamed up to guide deserving children from Myrtle Beach schools on a Christmas shopping spree. Two days before the Dec. 13 game at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium, 88 high school allstars from across the state took a break from practicing to help students from Myrtle Beach Elementary School and Myrtle Beach Early Childhood navigate the aisles of a Target Superstore and check off their wish lists.
“My dad told me before I came to take it all in and see things from everybody else’s perspective,” says A.J. Calhoun, an offensive lineman Westside High School. “The shopping spree was just a really great experience to do that”
Greenwood High’s Bryce Seaborn makes sure his shopping teammate got everything he wanted before they check out at the Myrtle Beach Target.
The children’s lists included essential items such as coats and socks as well as whatever toys would fit into the $150 budget, provided by the state’s electric cooperatives. Each of the 44 children were teamed with a player each from the North and South squads, tasked with helping the children find items on their lists.
“It was nice to team up with somebody I’m going to play against,” says Christian Foster, a linebacker from Emerald High School. “We’re cool doing this, but game day is business.”
The shopping spree wasn’t the only thing that made game week special. The night before the bowl game, a line crew from Horry Electric set up hands-on demonstrations on the football field so the players could explore careers as cooperative lineworkers.
Jayden Johnson of Ware Shoals High School helps Eva, a kindergartener from Myrtle Beach, get the doll she wants during the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl shopping spree.
“Just messing around with some of the stuff that they do and learning how they do their job was a lot of fun,” says Jaxx Wilson, a linebacker Westside High.
“They are great kids, and we’ve had the best interactions with them,” says Horry Electric lineman Sean Brown. “It’s an opportunity to show them what we do. If they do have thoughts about becoming a lineman, they get a little idea of what it is like.”
Other local players participating in the bowl included Jayden Johnson of Ware Shoals High and Damarion Roman and Bryce Seaborn of Greenwood High.
South Carolina’s electric cooperatives sponsor the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl in partnership with the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association.
