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Greg Vandagriff, left, and Sean Calhoun spent four days in Krakow, Poland, teaching young players about American football. (Submitted photo)

The Krakow Kings helmet. (Submitted photo)

The Krakow Kings coaches talk with their players. (Submitted photo)

The Krakow Kings offense lines up for a drill. (Submitted photo)

MOULTRIE – For Sean Calhoun, the opportunity to go abroad to instruct youngsters in American football while also sharing his Christian faith was a no-brainer.
Early last month, the Colquitt County football coach and former Prince Avenue Christian head coach Greg Vandagriff flew to Krakow, Poland, to share some of their knowledge of the game they have successfully coached for many years.
The two spent four days working with the Krakow Kings, a junior team that has been in operation for a number of years.
Football in Poland is not a school sport as it in America, but rather a club sport.
Krakow, a city of about 800,000 in the eastern part of the country, has both a junior team, made up of school-age players, and a senior team, with college-age and older players.
Krakow’s senior team has two Americans on its roster.
The junior team has some 50 players, several of which travel an hour or more to get to practices, which are held at a boys and girls club-like facility.
The Kings have a coaching staff of six, including two who are members of Poland’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and who arranged for the two American coaches to travel to the Eastern European country.
Calhoun and Vandagriff served as virtual members of the coaching staff, which is putting the Kings through their spring practices.
The eight-game season will be played in the fall.
“We did a lot of teaching of basics and fundamentals,” Calhoun said. “We showed them some drills they can use the rest of the spring and summer.
“They had a practice template and their organization was good. We tweaked a few things, but we were really there just to enhance what they do.”
Calhoun said he found the young players to be extremely receptive.
“There are pockets in Europe that really love American football,” Calhoun said. “And these kids really, really love it. They were very coachable. They hung on every word and really wanted to improve. It was a joy to coach them.”
The Kings coaches also were open to what their American counterparts brought to the practice field.
And the team’s popularity can be measured by its some 10,000 Instagram followers.
There was not much of a language barrier, Calhoun said, as most of the players spoke good English.
“English is mandatory for the kids over there,” he said. “And it was fascinating to me to see how they could speak English and immediately go back to their native tongue.”
Calhoun said learning even basic Polish words and phrases was a challenge.
“It is one of the top 10 most difficult languages to learn,” he said.
He and Vandagriff also led a film session and joined in team meals.
The team is not as well-equipped as their American counterparts.
“They could use some updated equipment,” he said. “They know it. They are working on it.”
After each practice, the team would gather for a devotion.
The Americans helped with several FCA-led activities and after the final two practices, the team gathered in a large circle to repeat the Lord’s Prayer.
Calhoun said it in English. The Kings head coach, who is from Germany, said it in German. The two FCA coaches, who are from Ukraine, said it in their language.
The players repeated it in Polish.
“That was such a great experience,” Calhoun said.
Calhoun was sponsored by the Colquitt County FCA and its leaders Noah Henson and Danny Blaylock.
Vandagriff was a three-time state championship coach at Prince Avenue Christian in Atlanta who recently has taken a job in Tennessee.
He contacted Calhoun last fall about the opportunity to travel to Poland. The two have been friends for a number of years.
Calhoun drove to Atlanta where he met Vandagriff at the Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport.
They flew to Boston and then on to Amsterdam, capital of The Netherlands.
From there, they took a flight to Krakow, where they were met by the FCA representatives.
Krakow was the site of one of the major metropolitan ghettos created by Germany during is occupation of Poland during World War II.
The factory where German industrialist Oskar Schindler saved more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust is still standing and is open to tourists.
It was featured in the 1993 Academy Award-winning film “Schindler’s List,” directed by Steven Spielberg.
Calhoun said he was able to do some sightseeing while he was there.
“The history there is incredible and I’m glad I got to experience some of that,” he said.
Calhoun said he would like to make another trip out of the country to combine teaching football with FCA activities.
“It was super gratifying that I was able to go all the way to Poland because of the game of football,” he said. “And being a big supporter of FCA, that means a lot to me.”