Vince D’Adamo: What did you enjoy most about competing in athletics throughout your life?
Kameron Jones: What I enjoyed most were the people I played with and for. Any success I experienced was largely due to their commitment. I can name many coaches from each team I've played for and list off how they added to my life beyond the field of play. Equal to that are those who were once strangers who became brothers and sisters. As much as I enjoy winning, the day-to-day grind with coaches and players was what made it amazing and an honor.
D’Adamo: What have you been doing since graduating from high school?
Jones: Lots. This day and age, life is full of opportunity. I'm married with three children (currently pregnant with our fourth). I pastor at a joy and spirit filled Christian church in Napa called The Rock. My wife and I have been ministering there going on five years. I still continue to keep my feet in education on a part time basis, substitute teaching primarily in Napa city schools. I'm back at my alma mater, Napa High School coaching track and field (short sprints) under the direction of Steve Hatton. Lastly, I've started a track club called Napa Valley Sprint, which teaches sprinting fundamentals and running mechanics in the summer.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite class at Napa High?
Jones: To be honest, I enjoyed all my teachers at Napa High. The culture and pride is the best of any campus I've attended. However, if I were to highlight someone specifically, it would have to be Mr. Gregory. The man is literally a genius, he has the ability teach difficult concepts with some simplicity.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite athletic moment at Napa High?
Jones: Beating Vintage is always a great moment, but one of my most memorable moments is playing Hogan High School in the fourth quarter, the score is 28-28. We began our final drive on our the 5 yard line with approximately four minutes left in the game. We must of ran the ball a total of 15 to 20 plays, all runs, no passes because they couldn't stop us. We are about 2 to 3 yards from the goal line and the series ends with me fumbling into the end zone on a 32 option toss, causing Hogan to get the ball back. My mistake cost us the game, especially after all the hard work. The only person who carried that perspective on the team was me. Coaches and players reminded me it is a team game and one play didn't define the outcome. In what I felt like was my huge mistake, the team didn’t point the finger. We collectively took responsibility.
D’Adamo: How much do you feel you have grown personally since graduating from high school and how much of that do you trace to athletics?
Jones: I feel like I’ve grown beyond what I ever imagined, to the point that I embrace a lifestyle of growth in everything thing I do. Being in athletics provides the opportunity to deal with adversity, which is a life skill that has kept me from quitting. There has been many times where I wanted to stop because athletics felt more like a job than fun. Or I struggled with coaches and players. Or I was on losing teams. Or balancing the demands of life and school with athletics was difficult. What was amazing about all of those adverse moments was, when I pressed through them and kept my commitment, rather than walk away, there was honor among those I competed with because we finished together regardless of the results. They knew I could count on them and they could count on me. Athletics was one of many stages that prepared me to handle the challenges of life.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Jones: My entire immediate family have been tremendously influential in my life in different ways. My younger brothers kept me entertained to the point that I'd rather be home than out in the streets. My two younger sisters kept me encouraged always. My older brother taught me everything I know and stretched me to become a better athlete. My step-mom nurtured a culture of success and accountability. My mom, was a defender of my actions and loves me like a mom loves her youngest. My dad is the most amazing man I know on this earth. He has a natural authority that is unexplainable. If I don't have them all, whatever is missing somehow makes them all less influential. My children make journeying in life more worth it than ever before. Lastly, my wife, all I can say is God has favored me because she will remain to be the constant relationship I'll have until my dying day.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet.
Jones: There is no one I look forward to seeing more in the flesh and all His glory than Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment