Members of semi-professional team introduced at Meet and Greet

PETERSBURG — "Please don't get it twisted," Director of Team Operations Cassandra Conover said, her voice booming through the microphone and reaching an eager audience at Petersburg's Union Station. "We are not a recreation team. We are not from the YMCA.

"We are semi-professional," Conover said, drawing a cheer from the public. Her team belongs to the East Coast Football Association. Any of the players from her team could be eligible to go to the NFL.

The team is the Petersburg Lions, a semi-pro organization made up of athletes 18 years and older.

After the players entered the room one by one until they stretched across from one end of the hall to the other, Conover said, ""Y'all didn't think we were here — what do y'all think now?"

Cheers and claps broke out among the audience.

The Lions had arrived.

And they're ready to play.

"We're here," said Lions Team Captain Darius Miles (fullback, linebacker). "We've worked hard, we're doing this for the community and for our city ... and we'll go out and prove that, our first game and the rest of the season, we're trying to bring pride back to the community and to the City of Petersburg and let everybody know that we're here to stay."

"For us to come out here and do this hard work for Petersburg Lions and for the community, it shows that we can also do anything that is possible for ourselves," runningback and linebacker Frankie Wright added.

For starting free safety Shakeel Weekes, this isn't just a team — this is a family.

"This all started with Coach Marlow (Jones) with a dream, man, and now, we're actually putting everything together," said Weekes, who's ready to hit the field with his teammates.

"I can give back to a community that I grew up in ... with Prince George being right around the corner, I can actually take this back to the younger students there and actually be like, "Even if y'all don't make it to the collegiate level, y'all can still play football and still have fun and still enjoy things you love."

Leading that team and family is Petersburg Lions Owner and Head Coach Marlow Jones.

And they're already off to a strong start, he said.

"Our dues are already paid to the League, already done. We were first paid in full since September," Jones said. "You've got teams that are just paying their dues, and we've already paid in full."

"This is my third organization that I've been a part of, and I must say: this is the best one I've ever been a part of," said Special Teams Coach Don Reichhardt, who has been coaching semi-pro football for 9 years and won the 2007 championship with the Virginia Ravens. "In the two organizations I (was part of), we'd never done anything like this at all — no publicity out in the community, no nothing. It was just show up to practice, show up to games and that was it. That's all we did, and then a banquet at the end of the year, so this is very impressive."

Lineman captain John Coard called it an honor and blessing to play for Coach Marlow whom Coard had as a coach growing up.

"It's a pleasure to play with Coach Marlow," Miles agreed, adding, "We couldn't ask for a better operations staff than what we've got now. It's just a blessing and I'm excited, we're excited. We're just going to ride this out until the wheels fall off and beyond."

The purpose of the Lions as described by its leaders is opportunity: they seek to offer a chance for the players on their roster to continue their dreams of playing football at the next level while representing their City of Petersburg on the field in the here and now.

"They've still got something left to give to the sport that they love," Jones said. "And a lot of them will be going to the next level."

For several of those players, their respective football journeys have roots in the Tri-Cities region. Wright went to Matoaca; Coard played for semi-professional teams including the Tri-Cities Bulldogs.

Miles graduated from Dinwiddie High and went straight to semi-pro, playing for the Virginia Ravens, the Tri-Cities Bulldogs and the Virginia Titans before joining the home team of the Lions. Weekes played all four years at Prince George High School, including three years on varsity, as wide receiver and cornerback. He played one year at VSU where he earned his college degree and has been in semi-pro football for three years. Johnson played football for Petersburg High School and Norfolk State.

"I'm looking to go to the next level — across seas, whatever — to pursue my career in football," Miles said. "And I'm going to keep working hard. You never know what can happen as I'm chasing a dream and I'm living my mother's dream and my dream also and my family's dream for me to be successful."

"For me — I'm from Petersburg, it's a great opportunity to come back to the city that I'm from and play football again," Johnson said.

The players' dedication and commitment has driven them to practice in the sleet and rain — offensive and defensive lineman Devonte Harris said — and to keep coming to practice on a regular basis and hold themselves accountable.

"When ... most of the people have said that 18 years and older are nothing or they're deadbeats or they're this or they're that — these guys are not that at all," Jones said. "These are young men, these are our boys, these are your boys, these are our soldiers."

Harris, who has been playing football since he was 3, said of the game, "It's not just like an everyday life choice ... I don't even have to be out here right now, but I've got my brothers with me, so I'm down, they pick me up ... we don't ever skip practice."

Sylvester Delamar Jr., who helps Jones coach the offense, sees their players doing good things in their first year.

"So far I can't wait for the season to start, and once the season starts, I think we're going to shake up a lot of teams," Delamar said.

In practice so far, Reichhardt said they've seen improvement out of the guys who haven't played any ball — and they've actually progressed very well.

Reichhardt, however, did note: "We're a good team, but we've got a long ways to go with this. I would say we're going to make a lot of noise in the league, I really do ... we're going to do very well this year for a first-year team."

Delamar pointed to the Lions' excitement for playing their home games at Cameron Field, with their first home contest to take place March 19 with the Virginia Swarm coming to Petersburg. Harris said that, as a whole, the team is very excited about hitting the road for their first game of the new season on March 12 versus the Maryland Outlaws.

"Without Coach Marlow, this would not be getting done," Harris said.

—Nicholas Vandeloecht may be reached at 804-722-5151 or nvandeloecht@progress-index.com