Xplorers player is divinely inspired
April 20, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Memphis Xplorers News Release
SOUTHAVEN, Miss.âMemphis Xplorers wide receiver Deumaine Reeder plays football like a man on a mission, intensely pushing toward an open spot so he can take the ball across the goal line. And indeed, Reeder is on a mission: in both his vocation as a Memphis Job Corps Center recruiter and his avocation as a youth minister, he aggressively pursues open opportunities to help young people achieve their goals.
"I'll take advantage of whatever venue I can get that gives me an opportunity to help offer people a new direction in life," Reeder said. "Football is a venue that allows me to be mission-minded. It opens doors for me to minister or to help others.
"Ministry doesn't always have to be in a church setting. You don't have to play football or be a professional athlete to reach out to people. You can minister in many different settings. In this day and age, we have to be able to reach out to young people wherever we can."
The Xplorers football team provides a great many opportunities for its players to interact with young people, whether reading to children during a summer library program session or during the team autograph sessions on the field after every game. It gives Reeder a chance to talk with young people about their goals in life.
"When you deal with youth and young people, they always tend to pay more attention to people around their age or in a similar mindset in their activities," Reeder said. "They can relate to football and the desire to play professional athletics."
Reeder's role at the Job Corps center stresses education, learning a skill, and accountability.
"With the Job Corps, I go out and recruit students age 16 to 20 years of age who, for whatever reason, didn't complete their education and give them a second chance to do so," Reeder said. "We also give them an opportunity to learn a skill or a trade. We keep up with them for two years after they leave the system and enter the job world, which helps keep them accountable and increases the probability they will stay employed. Education is important, but you have to have a skill or trade as well to survive in today's world."
Reeder realizes his position as a professional athlete opens many doors for him to do good things, but it also places him in a position of great responsibility and accountability, as evidenced by the scrutiny of the lives of today's athletic superstars.
"The one thing we have to realize is that we are all human, and we are born to make mistakes," Reeder said. "We have to learn from those mistakes the first time. All through history, there are going to be people who are put on pedestals. Eventually they are all going to fall. The thing is to understand that fall and learn from that fall."
As Reeder and wife Michelle rear their two children, ages four and eight, many of the lessons he has been teaching young people for years are becoming more relevant in his own home. He sees a definite continuum between his work as a deacon and youth minister at Faith Temple Missionary Baptist Church and his role at the Job Corps Center.
"As a youth minister, as an athlete, I am trying to reach young people so they won't be in some of the situations and tell some of the stories I hear when youth come into my office and want to get into the program," Reeder said. "I want to help them find purpose in life."
arenafootball2 Stories from April 20, 2004
- Riptide Look to Turn Things Around vs. Former Coach - San Diego Riptide
- Murray: We have to be patient - Central Valley Coyotes
- Vipers trade Brown, Baker - Tennessee Valley Raptors
- Firecats Support Relay for Life - Florida Firecats
- Xplorers player is divinely inspired - Memphis Xplorers
- af2 sees significant attendance increases - af2
- af2 Week 3 Recaps - Laredo Law
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
