My name is Dakota and I am a 13 year old home schooled student here in western North Carolina. I am the 2nd of 4 boys and our parents have homeschooled us all of our lives.

Since I was 3 years old it has been my dream to play college football, and if it’s the Lord’s will… play in the NFL one day. My parents love to tell the story of how we went to NY for Christmas one year to be with family. I was 3 years old and all I wanted was a football uniform for Christmas! Under the tree at my grandparents’ was a uniform just my size! At that time we lived in Tennessee and my parents remember me wearing that football helmet in the backseat of the car from NY to Tennessee without taking it off, with the exception of when we stopped to eat.

I even remember sleeping with that helmet on for several years.

Now, 10 years later I am working hard on making my dream come true. At 7 years old I began playing youth football. I played in the youth league until this year when I grew too big to make weight. At 13 I now stand almost 6′-1″ and weigh 170 lbs.

During my time in youth football I was elected to the All-Star team 3 years in a row by my coaches. In my last year with the organization I was awarded the “Lyndon Baker Memorial Award” for outstanding defensive ability based on coach-ability, character and performance on the field.

This year my parents were able to work out an agreement with the local school district for me to play on the middle school football team. I was a starter on both the offense and defense. I got along great with my coaches and my teammates. I was able to use this opportunity to not only be a witness for Christ, but also to change a lot of peoples’ attitudes and perceptions of homeschoolers.

Football is not the only area that I have found success. I love studying theology, mathematics and history. I have found that I enjoy and have a talent for producing documentaries, and earlier this year I won a national competition with one of my documentaries. I serve on the 4-H County Council for the county where I live. I have won several science fairs, history fairs and geography bees through the years. This year I also participated in the national Bible Bee, memorizing large portions of scripture.

I tell you all of that because I want to say that homeschooling is not just about excelling at one particular thing. It is about receiving a well rounded education, instilling character and becoming a benefit to my family, my community and my church. Sports can and does play a vital role in this for many homeschool students like myself.

Some people do not consider sports to be all that important, or the rights of kids like me to participate and have that opportunity to be worth fighting for. But football is what I love, and God has given me a gift. Through that gift He has already given me a platform to speak to others about my faith in Christ. And as I said before, it has also given me the opportunity to change peoples’ attitudes and perceptions of homeschooling and homeschoolers.

I want to have a career in football. After football I am considering a career in producing documentaries like Ken Burns, or produce Christian movies like “Facing The Giants” and “Fire Proof”. I also believe that God may be calling me to the mission field either short term or long term. These are my dreams. These are the gifts that God gave me.

Fortunately the county where I play football homeschoolers are allowed to play, but it is only one of a few that do in N.C. I think this legislation should be passed so that ALL the other gifted homeschooled athletes across N.C. can have an opportunity to live out their dreams too.

Thank you for reading this.

Dakota F.