{"id":1484,"date":"2014-01-15T20:54:24","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T20:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=1484"},"modified":"2014-01-21T17:18:29","modified_gmt":"2014-01-21T17:18:29","slug":"two-local-football-stars-make-big-impact-on-bayside-middle-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/two-local-football-stars-make-big-impact-on-bayside-middle-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Two local football stars make big impact on Bayside Middle students"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post was written by Bayside Middle School Library Media Specialist Frances Scott.<\/em><\/p>\n

Two nationally ranked athletes who walked completely different paths to college football spoke to students after school at Bayside Middle School recently. Quin Blanding, currently a senior at Bayside High School, earned a scholarship to play football at the University of Virginia in the fall. He was a five-star recruit and nationally ranked safety who played in the All-American game.<\/p>\n

Michael Wyche, a defensive tackle, is headed to the University of Miami.\u00a0 He changed the course of his life that included drugs and brushes with the law to achieve his dream of collegiate competition.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/a>
Michael Wyche, a defensive tackle, headed to the University of Miami spoke to students at Bayside Middle School.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Melvin Francis, security assistant and sponsor of the Gentleman\u2019s Club at Bayside Middle, invited the players to speak about making good choices to students in his club and in the 21st<\/sup> Century after-school program. Ironically, the two guests will compete against each other in the fall, but their messages of working hard as a student athlete conveyed the same encouragement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was either dead or jail for me,\u201d Wyche told the students.\u00a0 \u201cI was lost.\u00a0 I was always in trouble; I didn\u2019t want to listen to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

After attending an alternative school, he entered Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake and found mentors.\u00a0 \u201cI just learned how to read my tenth grade year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He credited football and his grandparents for changing his life, and learning to read. Even though he was able to play college football, he did not recommend his path to the students.\u00a0 He first played at East Los Angeles junior college without financial help, and he missed his home.\u00a0 His record of 63 tackles and 12 sacks brought the attention of other recruiters, so he will now play for the University of Miami.<\/p>\n

Both athletes stressed doing well in school along with developing physical ability.\u00a0 \u201cSeventh- and eighth-grade\u2014that\u2019s where it starts,\u201d said Blanding who had attended Bayside Middle School when the school won three city championships. \u201cStay focused; stay humble, and always strive to do your best.\u00a0 Always be teachable; I want to see you all stand where I stand today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Quin<\/a>
Quin Blanding, a senior at Bayside High School and All-American football player, spoke to students at Bayside Middle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wyche advised students to follow Blanding\u2019s example rather than his in striving to be a student athlete.To students who might be \u201cclowning around at school,\u201d he warned. \u201cWhen you have a chance, fix it right now. Every day should be about business in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wyche said of the college recruiters, \u201cThe first thing they ask is how is he as a person, and then how is he in class. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanding cautioned the football players to be very cautious of what they posted on social media, and he urged them to help each other strive to do their best.<\/p>\n

Wyche\u2019s full story can be found in Mike Piellucci\u2019s article \u201cMiracle Man\u201d that was published Sept. 25, 2013 on sportsonearth.com<\/a>.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.sportsonearth.com\/article\/61640766\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post was written by Bayside Middle School Library Media Specialist Frances Scott. Two nationally ranked athletes who walked completely different paths to college football spoke to students after school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1484"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1506,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484\/revisions\/1506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}