 |
Today is Thursday, Sep 2, 2010 |
| Home | BPNews | Subscribe to BP | Tell A Friend | Contact Us |
|
Missionary kid follows dad's footsteps in football Thursday, Mar 25, 2010 By Lonnie Wilkey |
||
Nearly 30 years later, Duncan’s son, Curt, a high school senior at Morristown West High School is following his dad’s footsteps — to a certain extent. Instead of going to Knoxville, however, Curt Duncan is stopping at Jefferson City, Tenn., just a few miles from his home in Morristown, Tenn. A placekicker like his dad, Duncan has signed a letter of intent to play football for the Carson-Newman College Eagles. Curt Duncan was reared in South Africa and played six sports including soccer, field hockey and cricket. Football was not on that list. In fact, after moving to Morristown with his parents, who are serving a three-year stateside assignment, he planned to play tennis in high school. “I had no desire to play football,” he said honestly. But after his dad began working with a younger cousin, Curt expressed some interest and began kicking. Armed with a strong leg, he tried out for the Morristown West team. He not only made it, but served as the placekicker for two years. He even punted some his senior year and kicked off for a couple of games. During his career, he kicked 14 of 27 field goals, with the longest being 42 yards. Curt admitted that after he began playing he dreamed of walking on at UT like his dad had done, but when he realized he was called to the ministry, he looked hard at Carson-Newman. Several other schools showed interest in Duncan including Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, but Curt had a special interest in Carson-Newman, which has a rich, winning tradition under Coach Ken Sparks. His dad has coached the kickers the last couple of years, plus he knew some of the coaches and players. “The Christian coaches at Carson-Newman had an impact on my decision,” said Curt, who feels called to preach. “I realized Carson-Newman is where God wanted me to be,” he added. In addition, he can remain as an active member at Manley Baptist Church in Morristown, where several of the ministers there have become his mentors. Not only is Carson-Newman gaining a great kicker, they are gaining an even better person, said Lamar Brown, Curt’s high school coach. “Curt brought leadership to the team. He did what he was supposed to when he was supposed to,” Brown noted. “He had a major influence on the team.” Curt noted the locker room in high school was his mission field. “I have had an opportunity to build relationships with them and be able to witness to them,” Curt said. “They knew where I stood and they respected where I was coming from.” Like any dad, Alan Duncan is proud of his son. “Curt always gave the honor and glory to the Lord when he made a kick that really counted,” he said. The younger Duncan is grateful for the support he had from both parents. Alan Duncan gave him plenty of kicking pointers while his mother, Andrea, also had a big influence. “She always would tell me what I did wrong in a motherly way,” he said, although he laughed that his mother never actually saw him make a kick. “She was always praying,” a fact that his dad acknowledged as well. And the elder Duncan acknowledged that it was a lot harder on him watching his son in a critical situation than when he was having to make a pressure kick himself. Duncan is not certain he will be the kicking coach for C-N next year, but acknowledged it would be interesting to coach his son. “I would consider it an honor, but I would want to be fair to everyone.” Duncan is pleased that his son will play for Coach Sparks at C-N. “He is a winner and a tremendous Christian man.” --30-- Lonnie Wilkey is editor of the Baptist and Reflector in Tennessee.
|
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
WWW.BPSPORTS.NET
Copyright (c) 2001 - 2010 Southern Baptist Convention Terms of Use |
901 Commerce Street Nashville, TN 37203 Tel: 615.782.8615 Fax: 615.782.8736 |