LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- High School football participation numbers have leveled off somewhat after about a 10% decrease in Kentucky toward the end of the last decade.
But there are still schools around the Louisville-area that will have a hard time getting enough players to field a team.
Former Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) employee Jimmy Isaacs saw that at his alma mater and is trying to make a change.Â
He's closing in on age 70 now and remembers the glory days at Southern High School, having graduated with Phil Simms before he went on to NFL glory.
His goal is to inspire kids to come out and be part of a team.Â
"Somebody sees something changed, that somebody cares," Isaacs said, "and they'll say 'man things are going great here.'"Â
He's trying to provide that change by using his talent as a painter, volunteering to put fresh coats of paint on the football goalposts at Southern and 10 other JCPS high schools.Â
"I'm volunteering to do each goal at a time so each kid can see me -- a 70-year-old man, a graduate from Southern high school in '74 -- out here volunteering his time to change a kid to get him to come out and support his coach, his team and make a change," Isaacs said. "Michael Jackson has that song, 'Man in the Mirror.' Come out and make that change."Â
That Michael Jackson song is an inspiration for Jimmy. And no he doesn't really care if some people think this is kind of a crazy quest.
He's just hoping to inspire a few kids to get out and get involved and just hoping to make that change.
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