RELATED GBK ARTICLE: Army-Navy game ... The Moment: From the Parents perspective
The last time we drew the perspective from the parents point of view was right after Army’s thrilling win over Navy this past December. We heard from the parents of soon to be graduating seniors Jeremy Timpf (Mr. Mark Timpf) and Joe Walker (Ms. Charisse Smith), along with the mother of senior-to-be Ahmad Bradshaw (Ms. Kizzy Collins). After the historic victory, each took time out to share with GoBlackKnights.com the roller coaster of emotions they felt during the exciting win. But it was clear that those shared emotions were also a culmination of 3-4 year of peaks and valleys that go along with the territory as parents who watched their sons matriculate to that special day/evening in Baltimore, Maryland.
Well, there is a new group of parents coming on board and who after the next upcoming 4-5 years, will be able to write their own testimonies on what their experiences have been from the day/time their sons make their way onto the campus of the United States Military Academy at West Point for R-Day, as cadets and Army Black Knights.
THE JOURNEY WILL SOON BEGIN
As we noted in our December 12th article, as our kids get older and go off to college, our role as “gatekeepers” seems to shift more towards advisors, encouragers, and often times observers ... especially when you are the parent of a future Army officers that currently attends the United States Military Academy at West Point.
And that is exactly where we kick-off this article. We are joined by Ken Willoughby, whose son and namesake is big offensive lineman, Kenny Willoughby, along with Theresa Roberts mother of talented wide receiver Michael Roberts and Brett Roth, who is the dad of incoming linebacker Ben Roth.
Like most people who might not have any direct relationship with the academy or the Armed Forces, the trio of parents readily admitted that when their sons received the initial recruiting call from the Army football coaching staff, they were somewhat oblivious to who/what the United States Military Academy at West Point was.
But, once they took the next step, which was to take a peak inside via an unofficial or official visit, along with doing their own homework .... the proverbial light bulb went off for both parents and sons.
“Honestly, I didn’t know much about Army West Point,” admitted Ken, whose family hails from Titusville, Florida. “Obviously I knew what it was, but didn’t know too much. So when they offered him he asked me what I thought about West Point. My initial thought was that he’s a very good student, but I still thought it would be difficult for him to get in there and I wasn’t sure about the military aspect of it, because I just didn’t know much about it.”
“When we went up there [official visit] I was literally ... actually we got on campus we were both kind of blow away by it. Just the historical aspect of it, just the whole deal. I was a little nervous about him being a Florida guy and how he would adjust to the weather, but that’s really nothing. But West Point is not like any other school, along with your commitment afterwards. But when we went and that Saturday when he met some of the players and that night he said dad, ‘I feel like I belong here’.”
Similar thoughts were echoed by Theresa Roberts, out of Charlotte, North Carolina.
“When I first heard about the offer, I was shocked, because I never pictured Michael at an academy type setting,” added the mother of the talented 6-foot-4, 200 pound wide receiver. “It was one of his first offers, so we took the approach of let’s learn about this. So, we looked into their history, their football team and once he started the fall of his senior year we gave it some serious consideration.”
Linebacker Ben Roth’s dad Brett said that there was surely a difference from the initial offer phone call to the time his family’s feet hit the academy grounds during their visit.
“Quite a bit actually,” chimed in Brett Roth. “It was early June when we got the call (offer from Army) from Coach [Daryl] Dixon and we were actually preparing for a few college visits ... a few of the Ivies. When we did eventually visit the West Point campus, my wife thought it was awesome and very exciting. But her initial reaction was ... ‘he’s not going to the Army’. Because we were visiting 8 schools in 9 days, and by the time we left West Point, my wife pulled Coach Dixon aside and said, ‘you have my vote’.
“We were on our way to MIT for the next trip to meet with coaches there and Ben said, ‘I don’t need to see anymore schools’,” added Brett.
However, the Roth family did visit MIT, but during the trip, the linebacker made his college decision. “The next day he called Coach Dixon and told him that he was sold and that there’s not any school in the country that can provide what West Point can provide and he’s not looked back since,” explained Brett on his son’s decision.
Of course, the parents said that it was the combination of academy itself, along with the football program or more specifically, the Black Knights’ coaching staff that made the picture complete.
“I think the whole recruiting process was an eye opening experience,” Theresa offered. “But, coming onto the West Point campus and it was my first time meeting Coach [Jay] Bateman and then meeting the entire coaching staff ... I was very surprised how large the staff was. And how much there is somebody for everything and everybody as far as their staffing was concern. They were very impressive, from the coaching staff to the training staff.”
“Then coming on campus during the official visit and touring/talking to everyone who were so readily available to answer the millions of questions I would have ... it really eliminated those misconceptions in my mind and other minds as well of West Point period,” she added. “Everyone gave me open and honest answers to all my questions.”
“I thought the coaching staff was amazing,” stated Ken. “They aren’t getting tons of 4-5 star players, like a Florida State or Penn State, but they do a great job and I love Coach [Jeff] Monken. When we went into his office, Kenny was just blown away by it. The coaching staff was probably the nicest group of guys that I have ever met, especially the assistant coaches. The biggest thing is that they want these kids to succeed at life. And I did not know that West Point is the No. 1 Public college in America ... I did not know that and that blew me away.”
‘THE ADJECTIVES’
Of course, it’s not a one way street. You see, each of these incoming student-athletes will be bringing their own specific attributes to the academy, with the hope of adding value to both the Army football program and West Point. Needless to say, no one knows those attributes better than their parents, and the Army football fans will have an opportunity to see those talents maturate even more so over the next 4-5 years.
“One word adjective would be driven,” shared Brett, when describing his son Ben. “No matter what it is, he’s always been driven by the best he can be.”
“I would say that Kenny boy is dedicated,” declared Ken. “He’s all in and he talks about nothing else. He talks about the brotherhood, he’s all in and he doesn’t go halfway on anything.”
“Leadership ... He’s that guy and I can honestly say that,” said Theresa, who confidently, yet emotionally shared that it will be with great pride to pass the torch come Reception Day to the Army coaching staff and the academy to pick-up where she will figuratively leave off.
“I play that in my mind all the time,” she stated of what her emotional barometer will be like while saying her final good-byes for several weeks until he completes Beast Barracks. “Michael and I are extremely close and we have long talks about everything. But, I am just his training wheels ... so once he gets up to R-Day and I feel like the training wheels are going to come off. I’m going to be so proud of what he’s about to do on his own, because I’ll be out of the picture from the day in day out motherly guiding. It’s going to be hard, but I am going to be so proud of him.”
From GoBlackKnights.com our official welcome to the Army Football Recruiting Class of 2017.
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