So far this season the Crusaders have an 8-0 record, including a win over Tampa Catholic, who won the Class 3A state championship last year.
For over 17 years the Seffner Christian Academy basketball team, under head coach Greg Fawbush, has built up an outstanding program, despite being one of the smaller Christian private schools in the area. So far during coach Fawbush’s tenure as head coach, the team has been to seven Sweet 16’s, three Elite 8’s and most recently was a Final Four team in last year’s state championships.
“There are three things that I believe is important in building a program,” said Fawbush. “The first is passion; the players have to believe that you are passionate about what you are doing. The second is commitment; a lot of coaches come and go but to build a program you have to prove that you are going to be here. Third is concern about the player’s lives as much as the game.”
There can be no doubt that hard work and dedication on both the coach and players parts is what makes this program so noteworthy. This year the team, made up of four freshmen, five sophomores and two juniors, was also one of two teams in the county that had four players in the Tampa Tribune’s “Players to Watch” list. Currently the Crusaders have an 8-0 record, including a win over the reigning Class 3A state champions, Tampa Catholic.
Team parent Robert Walker believes that the coaching and team mentalities are what attribute to the team’s overall success. “I believe Seffner Christian Academy, by default coach Fawbush, have been able to achieve success year in and year out because he invests so much time into mentoring his players. This particular group they are very young and happen to be a talented group of players and they are usually the hardest working players on the court,” he said.
Seffner Christian Academy is located at 11605 E US Highway 92 in Seffner. For more information on Seffner Christian, visit http://scacrusaders.com/. For more information on Seffner Christian athletics, game schedules and rosters, visit www.gosaders.com.