Parker Cathy - Northern lights: one woman, two teams, and the football field that changed their lives

PRAISE FOR NORTHERN LIGHTS

I was recruiting the Parkers son, Kyle, during the time Cathy was spearheading the efforts to put an artificial football field in Barrow, Alaska. It is a miraculous story that should be told.

Dabo Swinney, Head Football Coach, Clemson University

I count it a privilege to recommend to you my friend Cathy Parker. Cathy has a heart to encourage young athletes and their families, and she knows firsthand the numerous challenges they face. I refer to her incredible story as a God story, one that is impossible apart from the power of God.

Pam Tebow, Mother of Tim Tebow

I am delighted to see how God has used Cathy Parker, my dear friend, to persevere through an otherwise seemingly ridiculous and impossible task. Why would a woman who lives in Florida ever push through so many limits and obstacles to spearhead building a football field for a remote and desolate place in Alaskaa place she never been and for people she had never metjust from watching a television documentary? Because thats Cathy.

I am extremely excited and proud of my friend for her continued drive to push the envelope and expand her horizons to bless others. I wish her continued success and blessings as she continues to be inspired and led by the Holy Spirithe is our guide and comforter.

Tammy Wilson, Mother of Russel Wilson

Its truly a heart-warming story and one that will appeal to a large audience. I very much admire how you have stayed with this project through difficult times when many would have given up.

Wayne Weaver, Former NFL Team Owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars

Cathy, you are indeed an inspiration to us all. We followed with great interest your fund-raising efforts to provide a field for football players thousands of miles from your home. At first, I wondered what your motivation could be. The more I read, the more I saw that you were nothing but a Football Mom, a mother concerned about where kids play their sports and ensuring that they have opportunities in sports. As a fellow Soccer Mom, I relate to your motivation and commitment to kids.

On behalf of the kids of Barrow and Alaskans everywherea big Alaskan thank you!

Lisa Murkowski, United States Senator, Alaska

2019 Cathy Parker

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ISBN 978-0-7852-2381-8 (eBook)

Epub Edition April 2019 9780785223818

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019901087

ISBN 978-0-7852-2380-1

Printed in the United States of America

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... so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this...

ISAIAH 41:20

CONTENTS

B arrow, Alaska. You cant go farther north and say youre in the United States. Its closer to the North Pole than to Seattle, Washingtonby almost seven hundred miles.

Temperatures in Barrow rise above the freezing mark about 120 days per year. During the coldest months, they can dip into the minus-fifties, with wind chills of more than 70 below. The town of more than four thousand people sits on permafrost as deep as thirteen hundred feet, making it impossible to grow grass and trees. That permanently frozen ground prevents the building of roads to connect Barrow to the rest of Alaska, so you can only get there by air or by sea. Barges can make their way into Barrow only during the two summer months, when the ice packs move out into the Arctic Ocean.

Barrow is the last place on earth you would expect to... well, there are a lot of ways to finish that sentence. Until 2007, see a bright blue and yellow football field was one of them.

I first heard of Barrow on a Sunday morning in October 2006, when the town interrupted our familys weekly pre-church routine. Our four children had changed into casual clothes for church and were watching ESPN. I was in the kitchen, making a batch of homemade blueberry muffins and chatting with my husband, Carl, as he sat at the kitchen table. Sunday mornings in our home were relaxed, by design. We wouldnt leave for church until about ten thirty, and Sunday was our one day of the week when we didnt have to rush in the mornings to get somewhere.

I was preparing to slide the muffins into the oven when our oldest, Kyle, called out to us: Mom, Dad! Youve got to come in here and see this!

I shoved the muffins into the oven, and Carl and I hurried into the adjoining family room. Kyle quickly caught us up on a story about the Barrow Whalers, a high school football team north of the Arctic Circle, in far north Alaska, playing their first season.

Carl sat in our oversized chair. I took a spot on the ottoman in front of the chair and leaned back against his knees.

The reporter asked how many of the players had not played football before joining the team. It looked like almost all, if not all, raised their hands. The story drew us in because of the schools 50 percent dropout rate. The Barrow youth had high rates of depression and suicide too. Drugs, alcohol, and the extreme climate contributed to the problem. High school and community leaders seemed desperate to find a solution, especially after two youth murdered a taxi driver in a robbery that netted $100 to buy drugs. They surveyed students to ask what would help them engage more in school. The students number-one answer was surprising: a football team.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about the social problems these young men were facing. Yet what really caused my stomach to tighten was seeing the Barrow Whalers field. In the absence of grass, the field was an unsightly mix of packed dirt, mud, and gravel. The players displayed the cuts and bruises they had received from its rocky surface.

Our football-playing sons cringed.

Ruts in the field caused by melted permafrost led to sprained ankles. Without grass, lines could not be painted onto the field. Instead, the field was lined with flour, which provided a welcomed postgame meal for the resident birds.

Sitting in the comfort of our home in Jacksonville, Florida, with our subtropical climate and lush, green sports fields for our children to practice and play on, my heart broke considering the physical sacrifices those kids were making to play football. To play a game my family had been born playing.