Free Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow

Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala. Coach Bell told us that he was very interested in having me come to play for him at Trinity Catholic. My parents were considering and exploring the significant challenges involved in my playing at a school that was a couple of hours from our home, when Dad also asked another good friend who he would recommend I play for.
    He was clear and direct in his response. “Craig Howard,” he said, “who has just been hired for the Nease High School head football coaching position, runs a wide-open, creative offense.” When we met with Coach Howard, we knew in three minutes that he was the right coach.
    Because Nease was a public school, Dad started checking into the Florida statutes, as well as the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) rules and the rules of participation governing play in St. Johns County. Under Florida’s homeschooling law, homeschoolers can play at the public school within their district. However, as it turned out at that time, if you lived in St. Johns County, you could participate in sports at any one of the four high schools in the county, regardless of the particular district the school was located within.
    It also happened that my dad’s sister Sharon was just finishing some work on an apartment in St. Johns County that was meant to be for their parents’ use in the future. Apparently the future was now, and she made it available for us to use so that we lived in the same county in which Nease was located, even though we weren’t in its district.
    My mom spoke to her good friend, Brenda Dickinson, whose deceased husband had authored Florida’s homeschool law in 1985. In 1996, Mrs. Dickinson, now a Florida homeschool lobbyist, wrote the legislation that allows homeschoolers to participate in extracurricular acitvities. She carefully went over every necessary requirement with my mom.
    Dad spoke to the head of the FHSAA and four different lawyers to make sure that our understanding of the law and governing rules was correct and that we were doing everything in an above-board, upstanding, and legal manner. 1 We were assured that we were. Dad knew that if I enjoyed any success, some might move to challenge my eligibility. Sure enough, challenges came from two quarters: one expected and one that was not. The one we expected might be forthcoming was from one of the other three high schools located within St. Johns County. The other one that had some people making some noise (though it never grew to a formal challenge of my eligibility) came from Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy, the school we had just left. That was hurtful—we had wanted to stay.
    We helped my dad’s sister complete the work on the apartment, and then Mom and I moved there to live in order to make me eligible to play. By then all my siblings were off at college or married, and Dad was traveling a good deal, so this worked out well for Mom and me to live in St. Johns County. On the weekends we headed back to Jacksonville to visit with Dad, but during the week we did all our homeschooling in the apartment in St. Johns County.
    Convenient as it was, it was still quite a change and transition for us. I missed life on the farm and regularly being around our dog, Otis. Dad was traveling both to the Philippines and within the States a great deal, so while we missed him, that wouldn’t have changed even if we were home. Plus, I was staying so busy each day—schoolwork, workout, practice, workout, schoolwork, bed—that it was probably tougher on Mom than on me. Once I started taking recruiting trips, however, even many of those weekend trips home ended.
    In this transition, I could see both my parents playing different yet vital roles for me, roles that have always been crucial to my success—whether in school or on the field. My father is fiercely loyal and helped us to pursue our passions. My mom, meanwhile, is more nurturing, and a peacemaker. She always told us to never let the sun go