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ZEBRA FEATURE
For some people, cars, homes, fashion
and flair is what they dream, but for
L’Dreco J. Thomas this is not always the
case. L’Dreco, known by his peers as
Drek or Dreco has a special interest in
children of all ages. For the past six years
he has been involved with the Athens
Youth Organization (AYO) Lions as a
football coach and athletic director. Dreco
finds joy in teaching and coaching young
men and seeing them go toward a goal in
life instead of roaming the streets and
wasting their lives.
Football has been a part of Dreco’s life
since he was 6 years old. He was brought
up through the recreation leagues playing
with the Classic City Dolphins and the
Metro Cowboys Organizations. He feels
that one of the main reasons he is with the
leagues is because of the influence that
his little league coaches had in his life.
Men such as Ike Whitehead, Robert
Craig, Jessie Prather, Aaron Heard, Pete
Fair and Randy Watkins, head the list.
“These are the real heroes in my life and I
thank each and everyone of them for
coaching me and the many young men
that they helped to better their futures
whether it was football or whatever they
pursued in life,” Thomas said. He says,
“it’s great to go out on Friday night and
watch the young men you’ve coached
perform on the high school level, but
most of all seeing them doing something
positive with their lives.
Dreco, a 1990 graduate of Cedar
Shoals High School, was a standout wide
receiver for the Jaguars and he lettered on
the Varsity.team his Junior and Senior
years. His goal after high school was to
go to college and study nursing.
However, as years progressed, he found
out that nursing was not for him. His
mother and father helped him to change
his outlook on life. They saw how well he
worked with children and how much
young men and women looked up to him.
Children would come daily to sit and talk
to Dreco about various things such as
school work, football, basketball and life
itself.
Dreco has attended the University of
L ’Dreco J. Thomas
Georgia and Truett McConnell College
and is planning to go back and continue
his education this winter. He hopes after
finishing college to get a job in coaching
at one of the local high schools. Dreco
has received the utmost respect from his
fellow colleagues, because of his goals in
life and his concern for children, he also
encourages other young men to follow the
same path and give back what they
learned when they were involved in youth
league sports. Thomas, a member of
Faith Christian Center in Washington,
GA, says that his relationship with God is
the reason for his success and he gives
him all the glory, “He gives me the
knowledge and wisdom to carry on my
daily operations.”
“I feel, if I can just help one child
realize early to make the right decisions
and to put God first in their life, to use
their resources and to go on someday and
be successful, I will have accomplished
something”, says Thomas. We know that
if he keeps on reaching out to the youths,
he will help a lot of children pursue future
goals.
Dreco’s parents are Patricia Winfrey
and Alexander Thomas. He gets good
help and advice from his step-mother
Cassandra Thomas and his step-father
Frankie Brown. They have been a great
source of inspiration and support to him
and he believes that if you have strong
parents and relatives you can’t go wrong.
He has a daughter, Taylor Bianca
Thomas, she’s five years old. He jokes
that he can’t wait until she gets tall
enough to dribble a basketball.
Finally, after spending his time during
the week coaching children he spends
weekends coaching an adult baseball
team. It consists of all white members
with one black, and he feels that this is a
real challenge. Dreco has lead this team
for the first time to the State
Championship. If you are looking for him
you can almost be assured that he is
spending his time at Satterfield Park
where his teams have won the Northeast
Georgia Youth Football Championships
all six years he has been involved. So far
so good, but he exclaims “I’m not out
there for self glorification, my joy comes
from seeing them happy. Seeing the joy
on their faces when they win, and helping
them through the tough times of losing”.
Dreco says that he will continue reaching
his goals and instilling into the minds of
younger adults the importance of staying
in school and getting a higher education.
Doc Eldridge
salutes
L Dreco J. Thomas
District 7 Commissioner
CEO Candidate
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VOLUME 4 ISSUE 23