Youth Sports: Ray of light

Parent, teacher, friend, and mentor, are the words that describe Coach William A. Pearson.

Coach Pearson is co-founder and vice president of an organization called the Alabama Lazers. The Lazers purpose is to help develop the talent of boys, 12 to 17 years of age, who are interested is in basketball.

The organization consists of five teams, and the season begins in late spring and continues until the end of summer.

"It is important that my guys learn how to work together, so when they get back on the court they know each other, they trust each other," Coach Pearson said. Pearson says this is done during the off-season by volunteering in the community.

Nike, Inc sponsors the Lazers, a relationship that was formed four years ago. Before that, according to Pearson, most of their funding came from fundraisers and generous donations from the community.

The subject of foregoing college for the pros is an on-going argument in the world of basketball. Pearson says he encourages his guys to go to college.

"I believe in the plan B, I believe a player needs to have a college education to fall back on," he says.

His organization finds scholarships for kids who want to go to college, and Pearson has a strong pipeline between college coaches and high school basketball players. Coach Pearson says he get calls from all over from coaches interested in his guys.

Pearson feels he is partially responsible for developing the talent of the University of Alabama's guard/forward Rod Grizzard. Grizzard is a former Lazer, and still has a close friendship with Coach Pearson. Pearson speaks highly of Grizzard's talent, and is confident Grizzard will be a viable draft pick when he is ready to go to the professional level.

Pearson was recently asked, "What's in it for you?"

He replied, "I don't want anything. My greatest reward is to see these young guys turn out to be good decent men."

Then he was asked, "Do you want to coach on the college level or the professional level?"

The coach smiled and simply answered, "No." He says he wants to continue doing what he is doing. He wants to develop young talent, and put them on a good road, hopefully towards college with a scholarship.

He speaks proudly of an extremely low turnover rate, and says the kids come back year after year to be a part of the Lazers.

Success stores are based on people who help build them. People like Coach Pearson are dedicated to giving children a foundation at an early age. Mentors of this caliber shine in different places of the world.

Coach Pearson is a man who gives his time without the glory. His goal is provide that ray of hope, that ray of light to young ball players.

One remarkable statement the coach made during his interview was, "A kid that comes to my program may not be the best basketball player, but if he has heart and is a good kid, I'm willing to take him on."

Those words sum up a lot about this man and his organization.