An important lesson is learned by the Yorktown team – sports and life.
An important lesson is learned by the Yorktown team: The Yorktown Patriots high school football team took a break from their usual afternoon practices on August 17. Instead, they went to the first of what will be a weekly off-field Wednesday event and listened to a guest speaker’s discussion about different issues.
The Patriot Pride Wednesday event was the idea of Michael Krulfeld, the director of student activities at Yorktown. Bruce Hanson, who is the head football coach for the Patriots, set up the August 17 meeting. During the sessions, the teams will talk about different topics and issues and may even split up into smaller groups. Other teams in Yorktown do the same thing.
About the session
Warren Winston was the speaker for the football team on August 17. The varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams were all there. In 1968, he was the first African-American football player to get a scholarship at the College of William and Mary. He lived with Hanson and was an All-Southern Conference defensive back.
“I was happy to have a roommate like Bruce Hanson,” said Winston, who tautened giggles when he steered the players to a black-and-white image of Hanson when he played at William and Mary. “We talked a lot and about a lot of different things, not just football.”
More in Winston
Winston played football at John Marshall High School in Richmond before he went to William and Mary. He was a standout athlete in many sports there.
Winston told the Yorktown teams that he became interested in football when he was young because he and his father always went to Richmond high school games on Friday nights. He remembers going to a big football game between two all-black high schools that took place every Thanksgiving weekend and drew about 30,000 people.
Winston was the most valuable player at John Marshall when he played in high school. Winston was a pioneer and a trailblazer at William and Mary, where he played for legendary coaches Lou Holtz and Marv Levy. He pondered how important it was for him to go to a school with such high standards.
Important issues discussed by Winston
Winston talked about social issues like racism, segregation in schools, and now the different kinds of schools.
“You all can’t relate to segregated schools because schools are different now, and that’s a good thing,” Winston said. “Today, diversity is a part of your strength.”
He talked a lot about how important it is to be a good team player and how every player should give their best effort in every practice and game.
“You have heard that ‘team’ means ‘together each achieves more,'” Winston said. “That’s the attitude I had, and I hope you all will have that now.”
Winston taught sociology and coached football at Bowie State University in Maryland for five years after he stopped playing football. After 30 years in the financial services business, he stopped working six years ago. Winston said he hopes to go to a football game at Yorktown this fall.