During the 2006-2007 school year, I had a vison of bringing four schools of the Yazoo County Community together for a football banquet.  Three of these schools went to the playoff.  The other one had a winning record.

One Saturday morning I went to one of our local painting stores, Porter Paint, and the paint manager, Mrs. Mary Diew, came up out of the blue and said, " Coach Staples you know it's a shame we don't come together and do something for our children." Mrs. Diew had a son who was a student and football player at Benton Academy. I asked Mrs. Diew if she was serious about what she said. Her answer of course was "yes." I told her I would be back.  At hat point, I actually forgot what I went to the store to purchase. They lost a sale that day. Her comment to me was very important.

A committee was born out of that idea which was comprised of different community members. The business community donated and the superintendent of the Yazoo City Public School District made available a site for the banquet. With the effort and support of the community, Benton Academy, Yazoo County, Yazoo City and Manchester Academy's football teams, family and friends (over 500) came together and made a historical event.

One year later the first sport between a public and private school (Benton Academy- Yazoo City) was played. Benton Academy won the baseball game with a score 5-2. A baseball tournament was scheduled for the school year 2008-2009 between all four schools at Manchester Academy. I would think Focus on the Children had a small input in that connection.