Shaping our Youth: My name is Greg Roeszler (Coach Roz) and I am a high school football coach and head up an organization called Playmakers. Let me share with you some alarming statistics: 2 out of 5 kids today live in a home without their biological father There are 10 million single mothers raising their children 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes 85% of youth in prison come from fatherless homes 90% of homeless and runaway children come from fatherless homes 63% of youth suicides come from fatherless homes 135,000 kids are carrying guns to school

These numbers cannot be denied and we have an epidemic of youth who have voids in their life due to fatherless homes.

Playmakers seek to teach the values and character traits that give our youth a playbook for becoming a responsible adult. We accept this role to assist single moms who have the challenge of parenting with fewer resources than they need in today's confusing times.

Why Begin with Values and Character? We must build a foundation of values taught and learned on the football field that a young person can relate to. They can be learned on the practice field and in games and then translated to life experiences. Those include, being a great husband, father and building a strong family unit.

Values and Character is the Beginning? To create great husbands and fathers of tomorrow, kids need to see what that looks like. The football team environment serves as a model for a functioning family. The values of responsibility, patience, determination all can be created on the field and translated to the family by a trained coach willing to accept the task.

Learning Laboratory: Our classroom is the football field. We teach by creating a FREE football summer camp for youth and high school kids who can not afford fee based camps. Our "Pay it Forward" tuition means the kids and coaches attending agree to perform structured Playmaker led community serving activities when called upon. The serving done in the community teaches the value of serving others first. These summer football camps are held nationwide serving over 600 kids and 150 coaches last summer.

Coach Roz is an author "Coaching for a Bigger Win" (Amazon) and speaks to a several of groups across the country. Coach Roz co hosts a weekly radio show on AM 950 KAHI that can be heard by going to www.theplaymakers.org/coachescorner. For more information how your organization can learn more of Playmakers or hosting a camp in your area, contact character based coaching