A Break in the Rain: A Boy, His Coach, and a Special Wish

By Tony Lotti

Mikey Carmello loves football. Appointed manager for a high school team, Mikey has but just one dream in lifeto score a touchdown for his beloved Wolves. Unfortunately, everyone thinks it is too risky for Mikey to play footballhe has Down syndrome. But as football season ends, Mikey has no idea that someone is about to give him a break from the rain.

Mikey and the high school football coach share an uncommon relationship. With Mikeys special wish in mind, the coach begins to develop a plan to form an organized football league so that Mikey can safely score the touchdown he has always wanted to achieve. But when Mikeys father is suddenly killed in a car accident, the coach willingly steps into a father role and begins teaching Mikey how everything is possible in lifeif he just believes. As the coach and Mikey step into the future together, both are forever changed by their inspirational journey through adversity, societal labeling, and a victory like no other.

A Break in the Rain is a story about how a coach chooses to be a champion for a little boy with a simple wish and lifts himself up in the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462007837

Tony Lotti

Tony Lotti graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan College, where he was awarded All-American and All Conference honors in football as a punter. After college, he attended training camp with the New England Patriots. He is the author of Fourth Down and Long and currently teaches and coaches high school football in Stockbridge, Georgia.

Book preview

Contents

Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

Breakfast of Champions

A Christmas Miracle

A Crazy Idea

An Angel for Mikey

Looking for Support

Getting a Green Light

The Lug Nut

A Hug of Confidence

Details, Details, Details

Kids Will Be Kids

A Coach’s Heartache

A Lesson on the Side of the Road

Faith in the Rain

The Thrill of Victory

About the FHL

Acknowledgments

First off, I would like to thank all of my players, cheerleaders, and their parents for allowing me the opportunity to be involved in their lives. I have learned a great deal from them about persistence, strength, and attitude. You are an inspiration to me and have done more for me than I could have ever done for you.

I would like to thank Mr. Rodney Bowler, Scott Mason, and Mike McDonald for not only allowing me to pursue this opportunity of starting a football program for children with disabilities at Union Grove High School but for having the mind-set to provide opportunities for all of our students and allowing them to pursue their dreams. Mr. Bowler was the principal at the school that gave me permission to pursue the opportunity, and Scott was the athletic director at the time. The sport of football can help build and maintain relationships. Scott and Mike were both teammates of mine on our college football team many years ago. I am still close friends with both of them, as well as other teammates of mine, after all of these years. I also appreciate the assistance of my coaching colleagues who helped out at practices and games that inaugural year and who continue to do so.

There are many volunteers who have helped during the past several seasons, but none were as instrumental in the games’ success as Mrs. Lynne Connelly and Ms. Jessica Curtis. Mrs. Connelly is a special education teacher at Union Grove High School in McDonough, Georgia, where this whole idea originated. Mrs. Connelly was the first person I was able to enlist to help out with the idea, and she was an instrumental part of getting the players and overall game experience organized with the students. Mrs. Connelly continues to run the Gladiator football team at Union Grove High School. Ms. Curtis is the main reason that the opportunity to play has made it to Pennsylvania. I first met Ms. Curtis while I was pursuing my master’s degree; we served on the same learning team for many classes. Ms. Curtis and her family deserve all of the credit for the program starting in Pennsylvania, where her determination and persistence have allowed those children the opportunity to play. Both Mrs. Connelly and Ms. Curtis serve with me on the board of directors for the FHL (Faith, Hope, and Love) Flag Football League, which is now a registered nonprofit organization. We are dedicated to setting procedures and spreading the word, so more children across the country get the opportunity to participate.

I would like to thank Mr. Rich Florio of Pennsylvania and Ms. Kelly Wallis of Georgia for taking the pictures of games and practices and granting me the permission to share their photographs with you in this book. Your generosity is appreciated, and my kids thank you as well. A special thank-you goes out to Mr. Florio, because it is one of his pictures on the back cover of this book. Many nights I lay in bed trying to come up with something for the cover that would not only be relevant to the story but capture a moment in time from one of the games. The first games in both Georgia and Pennsylvania were almost canceled because of storms. It is ironic that there was a break in the rain, in two different states, that allowed the games to proceed as planned.

I would like to thank Mr. Ed Gadson for videotaping the games and practices and putting together highlight videos for the kids. Ed not only donated his time to capture the events on video, but he donated the DVDs and such to help promote the league. Ed has always been the type of guy who would do anything for anybody, and he has a heart of gold. I would like to thank him for allowing me to coach and be a part of his son’s life. We became friends while Eddie, his son, was still in high school and have grown to be close friends since Eddie’s death in 2005. I pray for him and his family every day. Unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen to great people. We will never understand why.

A big thank-you goes out to my friends Buck Langford at Fox 5 news and Matt Pearl at 11Alive news, both in Atlanta. I contacted Buck about the big game, and he and his camera man stayed for the entire night. Buck and the Fox 5 news teams ran two feature stories on the league. The first was an interview at their station, and the second was following their visit to the game. Matt and the 11Alive news team featured a story on the Woodland Warriors that won several awards for them, including an Emmy. The coverage that both of these reporters gave to my kids has allowed the league to continue and grow, but it also inspired a lot of people along the way. Thank you for telling our story and allowing us to share it with others.

I would like to thank my family for their support and understanding as I follow my heart when led to do so. It seems that they are the ones that continually suffer when I am taken away from home, but hopefully they know that I love them all, and I appreciate their sacrifices.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has helped out by donating either their time or resources to this cause. It is almost impossible to thank everyone whom I would like to, but please know that you share in making this dream a reality.

Author’s Note

Have you ever been in the position where you had to introduce a child or a person with an intellectual disability to another person who did not have one? Did you stop and say—with a sideways kind of look when you thought no one was listening—he’s special? Sometimes it is hard to distinguish or determine a person with disabilities unless it seems obvious. For example, a child with Down syndrome has distinguishing characteristics, both physically and mentally, that let you know the child has a disability. Don’t feel bad if you have made the comment that he’s special, because the fact is, most people do the very same thing. It is not necessarily wrong, if you know the true definition of what it means to be special and the context in which you say it.

Society seems to have evolved to a point where everyone has to carry some sort of label. It starts in our school systems and then just seems to branch out to society from there. You know what I mean; think back to when you were in school. Students were labeled nerds, jocks, or preppies, just to name a few, but if you stop and truly think about it, everyone had some sort of label put on him or her. Then, of course, you had the children with disabilities who were simply labeled special.

If Webster’s dictionary defines the word special as having a specific function, memorable and exceptional, then why do we say the word in a negative connotation when referring to someone with a disability? Technically, based on the definition, this is a person with tremendous ability, not disability.

Hopefully, after reading my story, you will see that these children are special, but not in the way most people see them or label them as being special. These children have the exceptional and unique ability to make you feel good about yourself. That is a tremendous power that only a few select special people possess, and yet, they use that power to share nothing but genuine love—a lesson we can all learn from. All children, despite their level of ability, have dreams and aspirations. Society tries to limit or stigmatize the label of what it means to be special. This story will show you that not