U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio gave a little political celebrity push to his nephew’s new youth football league, reports the Naples Daily News.
Rubio lent a hand coaching one of the Suniland Sun Devils Pop Warner football teams. The Miami-based lawmaker’s two sons – Anthony, 8 and Dominick, 6 –are also on Suniland teams.
“When my sons got old enough to be involved, I wanted to be involved coaching them,” Rubio told reporters. “I wanted to make sure they learned the fundamentals. And it’s just enjoyable. I just have a great time at it.”
The Suniland organization is a first-year league with football teams for children aged from under 6 to 15. The group had teams recently advance to the 2013 Kickoff Classic for the Southwest Florida Youth Football League.
Rubio is a life-long supporter of youth sports, especially football, and feels they teach kids valuable life lessons.
“Most of these kids, although they may not agree with me today, are not going to go on to play in the National Football League,” Rubio added. “I do think that the adversity that you face in a sport like football, you work through it, it helps you to work through adversity; it helps you to work with others to accomplish goals.”
