When Southmoore head coach Joshua Norman took over the SaberCat football program two years ago, he wanted to provide his players with an experience that allowed them to achieve success on the field as well as in the classroom and the community.
The former OU and NFL standout does this with what he calls The Three C’s – Character, Community and Championships.
“Our mission is to win championships while building young men of high character to serve as a positive influence in the community,” stated Norman, who was a member of the OU 2000 national championship team. “We believe in imploring our players to have high character. We define that by six fundamental principles – humility, integrity, accountability, discipline, respect and hard work.”
“We believe that it’s important that we have a purpose beyond ourselves,” added Norman. “That’s where the community aspect comes in. We want to serve and positively influence the community.”
“On the Champions side of it, we want to win state championships,” said Norman. “That’s what we’re working towards. We also want to be academic champions as well as life champions.”
Norman takes a unique approach to accomplishing these character traits. He even sacrifices a day of potential practice to teach life lessons.
“This week we’re meeting with the Marines,” added Norman. “They’re going to be talking to us about overcoming adversity. We’ll do a three or four-week course with them and use resources that will help build up our kids.”
A previous Thursday session saw a local credit union give tips on money management, as well as teaching about professionalism and good citizenship.
“We get a lot out of it,” admitted senior quarterback Noah Peters. “The guy from the bank, he taught us about checking accounts, how to be a man, being a good husband. Those are all things that will carry on into our later lives.”
“When these kids leave here, they’ll have a great foundation to be great husbands, great fathers and great community leaders,” explained Norman.
Southmoore gets an opportunity to put those skills to the test when it plays host to Tulsa’s Booker T. Washington on Thursday, August 26th in the first Ford Game of the Week of the 2021 season. Watch the game on Cox’s YurView Channel 3 at 7:00 P.M. or online.
The SaberCats will rely heavily on Peters, who threw for nearly 1,200 yards last season and is also the team’s leading returning rusher.
