SARASOTA, Fla. – The annual Thanksgiving Day football practice at Riverview High School in Sarasota looked a little different Thursday.
“One game. Just be like him for one game,” former coach James Ward told the players.
Be like former long-time head coach John Sprague, who helped start the Thanksgiving tradition years ago. Sprague died last week at 74 years old.
RELATED: Sarasota high school football team dedicates playoff win to long-time head football coach who passed away
“The day before he passed, I talked to him a little bit, and he had just gotten home from the hospital,” James Ward, Sprague’s friend and fellow coach, said. “He told me he had just gotten home about an hour ago. So, I said, ‘okay, well, you go ahead and get settled, and we’ll talk tomorrow,’ and so early that next morning, I got a call from his wife that he had passed.”
Ward and Sprague came up with the idea for the Thanksgiving practice together.
“When I played in high school, we played on Thanksgiving mornings. We played Sarasota High on Thanksgiving morning. They called it the Turkey Bowl, and so, once we went into the playoff system, we had opportunities to practice on Thursday mornings. So, we made it a major deal,” Ward said.
Friday, the Riverview Rams will face Venice in the regional championship game. On Thursday, current and former players and coaches and their families gathered after the practice to remember Sprague.
MORE: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office makes special deliveries for Thanksgiving
“He was the hardest working guy I’ve ever met,” Ward told the players and the crowd gathered at the center of the field after practice. “Dedicate your efforts and your hearts to him, and we’re good.”
“[He was] just a good man who was fair to all the kids. It really didn’t matter what household you came out of. Once you were in his presence, you were just as special as the next guy. And he pushed guys to be as good as they could be,” Ward said.
“He was a guy that not only was a great football coach, but I don’t know if people realize how important he was as a mentor and as almost like a surrogate father to so many players,” current Head Coach Joshua Smithers said.
“He was constantly giving and doing for other people, and, you know, as a Christian, that’s what we’re called to do … we’re called to a life of service, and that’s what he did,” Smithers said.
Sprague started coaching the Rams in 1981 and elevated the program to a national stage over his nearly three decades at the helm.
READ: St. Pete nonprofit offers seniors chance to celebrate Thanksgiving early with their families
“Anywhere you go in the country, if anyone’s been coaching college, coaching for 30 years, I guarantee they know John Sprague, and that’s just kind of the effect, it wasn’t just locally, but he had an effect nationally,” Smithers said.
“He knew everybody. He knew all the great coaches. We had those type players also that those coaches would come to Riverview High School to recruit our guys,” Ward said.
As for what Coach Sprague would tell the players ahead of Friday’s big game, Smithers said he can’t use the exact language Sprague may have used – at least on camera.
“He would be excited and fired up and, you know, he would just tell us to worry about ourselves and just to play Riverview Ram football and let everything else take care of itself. And just not to let the game get too big,” Smithers said.
Sprague was also the athletic director during part of his time at Riverview High School.
2023-11-23 21:53:20
#Riverview #High #football #team #Sarasota #remembers #coach #passed #Thanksgiving #practice
