“The goal is still the same; this year it’s just a little more far-reaching,” he said.
He’s actually being modest because teams from sixty-six different schools across five states have signed up to take the Build the Bridge challenge. The program pairs teams of different racial, socio-economic, religious or geographic backgrounds so they can connect with one another and discover that they likely have more in common than just a love of football.
Though that love of football is the perfect starting point for difficult discussions about race in society. “Sports is the ideal platform,” said Coach Stephens. “It creates a dynamic where players figure out how to operate despite their differences because they share a common goal.”
Build the Bridge was the brainchild of Heights High’s offensive coordinator Kahari Hicks, following the needless deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. Both Hicks and Stephens see this particular moment as a unique opportunity to tackle an issue that many preferred to avoid in the past. Stephens agreed that had they proposed this idea a year ago, teams might have hesitated to join in.
“But now, it’s taken off like wildfire.”
Build the Bridge matches willing teams and will soon provide lesson plans, video suggestions and conversation starters while encouraging each school’s coaches to plan their own specific events. According to Stephens, some are doing 7-on-7 scrimmages or kickball games followed by a barbeque. Some are partnering students to be social media pen pals. Of course, all activities will be dependent on local social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Coach Stephens hopes this will become a long-term project that will “really change people’s perspectives.” It’s already caught the attention of the National Football League, who invited coaches and two players from each of 30 schools to a
kick-off event at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton recently.
Heights High has partnered with Olmsted Falls, a predominantly white school on Cleveland’s west side. Pending approval by both CHUH and OHSAA, the two hope to engage in a friendly passing scrimmage in Cleveland Heights in the end of July, accompanied by a local radio station and Cavs announcer and Heights grad Ahmaad Crump.
Coach Stephens believes that the Heights football team is perfectly positioned to lead this project because of the experience players have attending an integrated school. While the team is predominantly black, there are always a few white players each year who become an automatic part of the family.
He couldn't help but think of star quarterback Bay Harvey, who graduated in 2019. Harvey moved to Cleveland Heights from Switzerland where he’d been raised by American parents, an upbringing as different from that of most Heights High football players as one could possibly imagine. And yet, said Stephens, “he fit in seamlessly. His mother came up to me at the end-of-season banquet to say this was the best experience he’d had in his entire life.”
Mac Stephens and Kahari Hicks want to share the unique Heights experience with schools and teams across the state and even the country. “We have to somehow mimic this is our everyday lives and let the world see what we do in this program. Because it’s really special.”