It begins with a dream.
Every program begins with a humble beginning. Every program begins with an idea. Every program begins with a little bit of heart, and the will that starts with one person. That was the thought process of Anthony Osburn.
Osburn is the head coach and one of the founding members of the KSU Club Football team, the first club football team to exist on campus.
“I just had the first initial thought about it,” Osburn said. “I came over here [The Owl’s Nest] and talked to some people about it. They gave me a list of things I needed to do, and once I saw the governing body and what they were doing, I thought this would be really cool.”
Osburn didn’t accomplish his dream alone. He had some help, help that came from people who were just as passionate about this dream as he was.
“Once they said I had permission to start the process, that’s when I talked to John about it.” Osburn said.
John Lawrence was a fellow student in Osburn’s marketing class. He had mentioned the idea of a club football team to John while the two were attending a marketing event for athletics. Lawrence agreed to help out.
Lawrence went home to his roommate, Danny Payne, and told him about the idea for a club football team. Payne, who is now the team president, thought it was a great idea, and asked to help out. It took months for them to get the ball rolling.
“Anthony first thought about the idea of starting a club football team in August,” said Lawrence. “The three of us didn’t sit down and have our first meeting until December.”
The three knew it would take a great number of players to get the team up and running. They approached Laura St. Onge, the Associate Director for Sports and Recreation, about gathering players.
“Laura said all these clubs had interest meetings to get interest up, so we had one the second week of February,” Payne said. “We had about 45 people show up for the first meeting.”
Tight end and defensive end, Dominic Oates, likes the fact many members have experience in the sport.
“I played a lot when I was younger as most kids do,” said Oates. “I went on to play in high school and then walked onto Georgia Southern’s football team, which gave me a lot of great experience.”
Sunday saw the team’s first official practice, with about 30 players showing up. Without equipment ordered, the team practiced in shirts and shorts, focusing on endurance drills early on.
Later, the offense faced the defense in 7-on-7, with the defense winning the battle.
“The first practice was fun. There was a lot of competing and that’s what makes football so great,” said Oates.
Recruiting has been the biggest challenge yet. The team will be recruiting during the week of February 27. They will have tables set up near the commons, the green, the gym, and behind the student center. The team currently consists of about 40 players. They have roster space for 40 more. They are looking to recruit offensive lineman.
“Size, size, size,” Payne said. “We could use additional quarterback’s as well.”
While the team looks to recruit current KSU students, word of the team’s formation has spread outside the school’s borders.
“We’ve gotten a few calls from some guys in high school,” said Osburn. “Guys who want to play club football at KSU. It’s pretty exciting.”
It is no secret that student’s at KSU have been pushing for a school football team. The members of the club team feel that support could help promote the formation for a bigger program.
“Obviously, there is a need, a desire, in the Kennesaw community for football,” Lawrence said. “We are providing that need.”
Osburn spoke passionately to his players after Sunday’s practice about commitment. He stressed the importance of qualities such as faith and devotion, and how these qualities will make them a better team.
“Football just goes with college sports,” said Osburn. “To be a major university like we are, football is supposed to be here. We are doing our best to give them not just football, but good, quality football. We want to win championships.”
The team will eventually vey to compete in the National Club Football Association. The league is divided into five different conferences.
“Right now we’re working towards playing in the South Atlantic Conference,” Osburn said. “It consists of University of North Carolina, South Carolina, Clemson, OC Tech, and Radford.”
The school will be playing a scrimmage amongst themselves on April 14 at The Owl’s Nest. The inter-squad game, known as the Black and Gold game, will be the team’s first on-field display.
Officers are also working on scheduling a scrimmage, for late April, against Chattahoochee Tech. The Eagles, who will undoubtedly be a rival, are the reigning NCFA champions.
Players and coaches agree that the sport is going to gain popularity at a fast pace.
“Being that we live in the fertile crescent of football, it’s life down here in the south,” said Oates. “It’s great to have football at KSU now and it’s going to pick up a lot of interest from students and residents of Cobb county very quickly.”
KSU’s club team will front the arrival of an NCAA team at KSU, which is in the developmental stages and is scheduled to kick off as soon as 2014.
For more information on the club team, log onto Facebook and join the KSU Club Football page.
