When a coach walked into Kylan's school and asked if anyone wanted to play rugby, he was not sure what to think. He looked it up, decided to give it a shot, and what happened next is exactly the kind of story MICR was built to tell. This fall he is a senior and the heart of MICR's brand new Freedom Prep Academy Boys team, and he has a lot to say about the community he’s found at MICR.
It started simply enough. Coach KD walked into Kylan's school and asked if anyone wanted to play rugby. "We don't have no football team," Kylan thought, "and I'm just looking for something to do." He said yes, stepped onto the field, and felt something he had not been expecting. "It just felt like a whole different experience to me," he says. "The sport is actually so fun."
But Kylan will tell you that fun is only where the story starts.
Before rugby, he describes himself plainly. "I was one of the angriest kids you could ever be. I was just angry at the world every day. It started to get old." He needed somewhere to put it. Rugby became that place, and then it became something much more than an outlet. Coaches pushed him to use his voice, to communicate, to step up. The lessons reached further than the field. "It even helped me in my relationship," he says. "I had to learn to communicate. I got to actually use my voice." Rugby, he says, just helps you grow as a person. Everything about it pushes you to improve.
What Kylan keeps coming back to, though, is the community. "MICR is big on community," he says. "I'm talking about this is one of the biggest things I've ever seen on community." He describes coaches who kept his grandmother updated on everything happening with the team, who sat down one on one with students, who made sure nobody was falling behind in school. He talks about community cookouts, basketball, s'mores, just being together. "I receive nothing but love and support when I play rugby," he says. "You just feel so loved when you're around these people."
He felt it most at the grand opening of the MICR Rugby Field this past June. "Everybody was out there. It was so fun," he says, his voice lighting up. "That was one of the best community experiences I've ever had. It actually IS the best I ever had."
On the field, the thing that got him was the trust. The moment his team told him they were going to get him the ball and he felt everyone counting on him. "It just feels good when people can rely on you in a game," he says. "When they know that you got their back just as much as they got yours."
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There is one thing Kylan said quietly, almost like he was not planning to say it at all. "I ain't telling nobody, but I was going through one of my hardest times while playing rugby. Rugby was just my getaway from everything. They was there for me. They supported me." He pauses. "It's like my second family. It's the biggest family I could ever have."
This fall, Kylan is channeling all of that into something new. He is joining the brand new Freedom Prep Academy Boys team, MICR's sixth high school boys pathway and one of the most exciting additions to the program this season. As a senior, he is walking in as a leader, and he knows it. "I'm going to be teaching new guys the ropes," he says. "Communicating with those guys. Teaching everything I know about rugby. It's just a chance for me to better myself and be a leader on the field."
To anyone still on the fence about joining, his case is simple. "If you're on the fence about joining rugby, you're making a big mistake. It's just one of the best things you can be a part of. The coaches, the community, everything, they make you feel loved. You don't have to worry about paying for anything."
And to his new FPA teammates, he has a message ready. "FPA boys, if you're hearing this, I love you guys so much. We're going to teach you everything you need to know about rugby. We're going to be there for you. We're going to be like a big family. Come join FPA, you feel me!"
That is what MICR means to Kylan. "It's just love and big commitment and everything."
Be a #GAMECHANGER
Kylan was just looking for something to do. What he found was a second family, a leadership voice, and a community that showed up for him during one of the hardest times of his life. Your gift helps make sure the next student who walks through that door finds exactly the same thing.