The positive effects of NG3’s character development program, community-minded service projects, and voluntary opportunities for spiritual growth have become an expected norm for certain teams and their student athletes. Lawson Hale, for example, felt so impacted by the work of NG3’s Matt Williams, he wanted to provide the same influence and message to the following generation and is now serving as the NG3 Director at his alma mater, Brookwood. So how long does it take before NG3 plants roots in a community and development and growth occurs for teams and their players? It only takes an update from Mill Creek High School to see the impact can be felt almost immediately.
Michael Holderfield started serving at Mill Creek High School as school started in August, two weeks after the football team had already begun to practice. After a few meetings with Athletic Director Gary Long, and Head Football Coach Shannon Jarvis, Holderfield began working with the football team. It might look like there’s just a new guy holding dummies or placing the ball down between snaps, but there is a definite intent in his presence. A consistent, purposeful presence is a staple to NG3, with the intent of building rapport and relationships with coaches and student athletes alike. In any healthy, meaningful relationship, there has to be trust, which is earned, not given. It’s very hard to ask the next generation to believe what we are telling them if we don’t take the time to walk beside them and meet them in their worlds. It is this concept that serves as the foundation from which NG3 builds.
Now only a few months in, Holderfield has become an insider, an expected presence within the team and a growing presence in the community. He leads character talks before every J.V. game on Thursday nights and is planning a service project with some members of the team. Off-campus, Holderfield has started his huddle group, a small group of student athletes who voluntarily spend a couple hours each week together for discipleship, mentoring, and life-on-life leadership. By the second week of hosting a huddle group, 17 young men were al-ready attending. Mill Creek’s recreational league has also reached out for Holderfield to plug in with some of their kids ranging from 8 year olds to 8th grade, to which he has spoken to some of their teams and planning on speaking to more. Add to the growing list of areas of impact, Holderfield is laying the groundwork for volunteers to serve with both wrestling and the women’s basketball teams.
More importantly, the impact of NG3 at Mill Creek is felt on a personal level. Bailey Skelley is a junior on the football team and has been instrumental as an advocate and vocal leader to aid in the establishment of NG3 at his school. When asked why he has played such an important role among his peers, he answered, “I have shown NG3 so much support and leadership because that is how NG3 has supported me. NG3 has helped me become a better person in my community, and they have helped me excel at becoming a leader. NG3 has been nothing but helpful for me to become the best person I can be, and they have shown nothing but respect, so it would be wrong for me not to show them at least the same amount of respect.”
Making an impact in the lives of the next generation is the purpose of NG3, and student athletes like Bailey at Mill Creek are the prize. The goal of NG3 at a school and in a community is to go deep, building meaningful relationships and leading the next generation to a better tomorrow. If you would like to find out how you can participate in building men and women of character in our high schools, please contact NG3 at info@ng3.org.
Together….we can Be the difference!
Interested in finding out more about what NG3 is doing to make a difference in the Next Generation or how you can help? Go to www.ng3.org. NG3 is a non-profit 501(c)3 independently funded by donors like you!!
NG3
P.O. Box 1429
Snellville, GA 30078
www.ng3.org
NG3 stands for Next Generation: Character Community Change. Their goal is to develop men and women of character to create a positive change in our communities. NG3 works directly with student athletes in high schools, teaching and practicing the importance of strong core values like responsibility, humility, integrity and honesty. The staff of NG3 works along side the coaches employed by the school, providing a constant presence of reliability and service.
