Mr. Rod Phillips
The Founding Father of SYS
First known as Shelby Big Eight Football Association
Tribute to those that have provided the most for the kids of SYS
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Mr. Rod Phillips The Founding Father of SYS First known as Shelby Big Eight Football Association |
| Mr. Phillips started talking about an idea for Shelby Big Eight Football in 1966. Unfortunately his first attempt fell on deaf ears. But, in late 1967 with his desires and dreams of having a feeder program for Bartlett High School football, people started listening. He gathered, through the Shelby County School system, parents of youth in the communities and volunteers and in an all dads meeting in September 1967 at Bartlett High School gym and the dream came alive. The first games were played in October 1967 with only seven areas and over 400 players Shelby Big Eight took off and know known as Shelby Youth Sports, it has grown to having almost 3000 youth participate yearly in Track, Football and Cheerleading. Thank you Mr. Rod Phillips for giving our youth and our community so much. | |
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Mr. Ray Daniels Past President and Chairman of the SYS Scholarship Program for 28 years |
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Ray was one of those people that when you meet you could never forget. His love of life and youth was as big as the whole city of Memphis. Ray Daniel started in SYS as a track coach in 1973 and was one of the members of that era that helped SYS start the track program. He took our youth for the first time to AAU track meets and won many honors for our youth. He also helped in the establishment of some of the first SYS all-star football games. The teams would alternate travel to Little Rock to take on that organizations all stars. Ray would move up to become one of the SYS Executive Board members as the President of the organization and he developed and established many of the constitutional rules that we all have to follow today. He never left SYS because for the past 28 years he has been the Chairman of the SYS Scholarship committee. Each and every year he would gather some judges from the University of Memphis, Rhodes College and Southwest Tennessee Community College and select the Scholarship winners for that year. He loved giving these kids a scholarship and would make each and everyone special in his speeches. He knew all the original founders of SYS and those members of importance to the organization. Ray will truly be missed by SYS, the University of Memphis and everyone that loved him so dearly. |
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Mr. Jimmy Cathey and Mr. Bob Armbruster The Founders of St. Jude Bowl "Kids Playing For Kids" |
| Mr. Cathey and Mr. Armbruster started a dream in about 1971 in which Shelby Big Eight Football Association and another football organization would team up to play the first youth bowl game. All proceeds were to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Unfortunately their dream was never realized until December 7, 2003 when Shelby Youth Sports played games against Desoto County Athletic Association. On December 22, 2003 the first check for $6,313.00 was presented at the Children's Research Hospital. This dream became a reality primarily because of the volunteers of the organization, All American Team Sports ( Eddie and Ronnie Horner), the Liberty Bowl Organization (Harold Graeter). Now that it is started, it is time to put the idea into full motion to make it bigger and better each and every year until we have to open the Liberty Bowl Stadium for the games. | |