TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Florida Football Town's Future Looks Grim

ADVERTISEMENT

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ

The Associated Press

Published: August 17, 2008

BELLE GLADE - Surrounded by a sea of sugarcane, this poverty-ravaged town on the southeastern edge of Lake Okeechobee has long been one of the country's most fertile football areas.

It's a place where running backs of the future are said to gain speed chasing rabbits, where college coaches begin recruiting trips and where Friday nights produce future NFL stars. Football is the main diversion in Belle Glade, a k a "Muck City," a place so depressed it lacks a movie theater and even a big discount store.

Now football is being threatened.

When U.S. Sugar - the nation's largest sugarcane producer - agreed in June to sell its nearly 300 square miles of farmland to the state for $1.75 billion, the deal was touted as an environmental victory for the government's ongoing Everglades restoration project. But for the community, it's a big blow.

In what is already one of the country's poorest areas, about 1,700 U.S. Sugar employees will lose their jobs when the transfer to the state is consummated in six years. The rest of the local economy, which mostly supports U.S. Sugar and its employees, also will suffer.

"The only thing most people around here know how to do is grow sugar and play football," 70-year-old resident Jack Brown said. "Without sugar, there will be no football."

The town of about 15,000, which got its nickname from its soil's black muck, has football talent just as rich.

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes and dozens of other current and former NFL players call Belle Glade home. The four major programs in the area - Glades Central, Pahokee, Glades Day and Clewiston - have combined to win 17 state championships. Glades Central, the best of the four, has won six titles.

Pahokee, eight miles north along the lake's shore, produced Arizona Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin among others. Glades Central and Pahokee have combined to send 48 players into professional football.

"That's just God-given talent," Boldin said. "No other way to put it."

A bit of football folklore has even grown up around a local tradition called "running rabbits."

Children started the game decades ago to earn money, and they still sell rabbits for $2 and $3 on the streets. When the sugarcane is burned during harvest, rabbits run from the flames and young boys give chase. Only the fastest kids catch rabbits, and residents say the game is what has given area players their legendary speed.

When U.S. Sugar closes, there won't be enough jobs to support the population, and many people will be forced to commute about 45 miles to West Palm Beach. Most likely, residents will have to move and leave proud football traditions behind.

"Football is going to be hit hard," said Willie McDonald, the football public address announcer and track coach for Glades Central. "It will survive, but no one knows what will be left of it."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT