The Central Virginia Homeschool Disciples are now in their 3rd full year of organized football and it’s safe to say they’re more than competitive. With half of the ’07 season behind them, they have a 6-1 record including two wins against public school varsity squads. A big difference from the first year schedule of junior varsity scrimmages.

The team was put together by a group of volunteers from the Central Virginia Homeschool Athletic Association (CVHAA) who were dedicated to providing a football outlet for their homeschooled children. The largest obstacle was outfitting an entire team with equipment— the resolution: open the door for sponsors to be a part of the team. This raised additional funds and helped the team get started. A practice location was located at the local outreach center and lastly, scrimmages were scheduled with local JV teams for actual games to be played. From there the attitude was work hard and compete. That was the foundation and it’s worked too, just look at the scenario now: The Disciples have worked out a location with the park district for 3 home games - local news television camaras are on location for the Disciples home opener against Norfolk Christian. Newspapers are covering the team and they’re 6-1 including 2 wins against area public school varsity squads.

Most impressive, the team was founded on a much higher principle. “This is a great ministry. Through our Bible study groups, we teach everyone that you can put God first and still compete at a high level.” Head coach Dave Hollis said. This was most recently proven at the 2007 Super Bowl when the Indianapolis Colts lead by openly Christian and soft spoken Tony Dungy beat the Chicago Bears.

The Disciples are one of several Homeschool football teams across the country starting to form. But there is room for a lot of growth. “We want to encourage other Homeschool organizations to start football teams.” Coach Hollis said, “It’s a great alternative to public school sports. I really believe that even if the state of Virginia ruled to allow homeschoolers to participate on their local public school teams, we wouldn’t lose anyone on the team.”

Presently, there are a several local Homeschool football tournaments to play in. It’s only a matter time before there are enough Homeschool football teams to have a national tournament. But the foundation is definitely in place, and the door is wide open for Homeschool Football. -HSI