Home School Curriculum Experts

The “Tim Tebow” effect. If you keep up with college sports at all, you have heard of Tim Tebow, two-time Heisman trophy nominee (and the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman), starting quarterback for the Florida Gators, evangelical Christian, and homeschool graduate. My son, a rabid sports enthusiast, is a big fan (okay, we all are). Although we are historically fans of the not-so-great-this-year Tennessee Vols, we are finding ourselves secretly cheering on the Gators, in large part due to the commanding and inspiring leadership of Tim Tebow. My son’s interest in Tebow was first piqued when Tebow hit the national scene at the end of his freshman year at Florida and it was widely reported that he had been a homeschooled athlete who was allowed to play for his local public school’s football team, thus giving him the opportunity to showcase his talents as a quarterback and then go on to win Florida’s Player of the Year two years running.
The one thing that has bothered my son about homeschooling has been that he would not be able to compete in high school sports. Although we have a growing presence in our area of homeschool high school teams, we do not yet have the clout and backing to field a team that our state athletic association will recognize as an official opponent on a public or private school schedule. The story of Tim Tebow and his opportunity (and, let’s face it, his success) gave hope to my son that he could have that same opportunity. But the opportunity was afforded to Tebow courtesy of a state legislature that allows homeschooled students to compete in local high school sporting events. A 1996 Florida law specifies that homeschooled students may participate on the team of the local school in the school district in which they live. There are currently two bills pending in the state legislatures of both Alabama and Kentucky; these bills, named for Tim Tebow, would allow homeschool athletes in those states to play for their local high school teams just as Tebow did in Florida. Our state does not have any such legislation pending, so my son (who is a seventh grader) will probably not have the opportunity to play for his local high school team even if he and we want him to.
But the greatest lesson of Tim Tebow, and the one that inspires my son today, is not that of his being an excellent homeschooled athlete (although that is motivating and does give my son something to dream about). In a world where athletes are glamorized and idolized and imitated, it is refreshing and encouraging to have an athlete on the national scene that is not only morally upstanding, but who has a true heart for evangelism and missions. Tebow, the son of missionary parents, was born in the Philippines and has spent many summers there assisting his father in his orphanage and missionary work. In a recent interview with ESPN, Tebow states “My priorities in life are: Number one, my faith in God; number two, my family and my relationships with my family; number three is academics, and number four is football. You know, if those get jumbled around and you get the wrong one first, you could have a lot of problems. For me, trying to stay grounded, that’s the best way to do it, is have your priorities and try to live by them…. Through everything that I do, in football, in school and just living, I want people to see that in me. I don’t just want to be another guy who’s walking down the street… I want, when people see me, to say, “Hey, there’s something different about this guy, and that’s because he has a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Coach Urban Meyer on Tebow: “Character? (His) character is about as good as you can have. He’s a strong Christian, he believes in all the right things, he treats women with respect, he’s a guy that you want around your family…he (has) impeccable character.”

If you’ve gotta have a hero, I’d say my son picked a good one to emulate, homeschooler or not.