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For the second year in a row, Athens Academy football participated in the Polar Bear Plungefest. This year the project, hosted by Athens Rotary, raised more than $30,000 for the Family Protection Center/ACC-SANE Inc.
Coach Josh Alexander, a member of Athens Rotary, is big on giving back to the community. One of the four pillars the Spartan name is founded on is service — along with academics, athletics and fine arts.
“We always tell our guys, we’re a service and leadership team that just happens to play football,” Alexander said. “We play football, but our main thing is to teach our kids how to serve their community and be part of their community and love their community however they can. It’s important for us to do that.”
15 boys went with Alexander to Sandy Creek Park for the 14th annual event, including juniors offensive linemen Buck Talley and Henry Stokes and wide receiver Ben Bush.
This was Talley’s first year doing the plunge. He was unable to participate last year due to baseball practice.
“It was exciting,” Talley said. “It was nice to see everyone in a different scene. Instead of 6:30 in the morning, it was 11 on a Saturday and sunny outside. You see a bunch of people in costumes, … and then before we got in the water, everyone was super excited, all pumped up, jumping up and down, just waiting for someone to tell us to go.”
Bush has done it twice now, and he was happy this year was a lot warmer than last. He recalled a bonfire in 2024, donuts and coffee, being chilled to the bone. But this year, after a week of low 70-degree temperatures in the South, he didn’t even need a towel to dry off when he got out.
“It’s a fun tradition to go out there and be with your friends and have a fun time,” Bush said. “There’s no reason not to. It’s helping a good cause. … I feel like I never would’ve heard about it if I didn’t play football. It feels really special, feels really good to go out and do something with the community.”
Bush thinks next year, when he’s a senior, the team should dress up in costumes for it.
Stokes has also done it twice now, and he agreed with Bush about the temperature — the water was cold, but not nearly as cold as last year.
“It’s always good to give back to the community, seeing how much things like that can impact someone else,” Stokes said.
Athens Academy football does more than just the Polar Plunge.
Alexander is constantly finding ways his players can give back to the community throughout the entire year. Things like hosting a 5k race, packing lunches, assisting Downtown Academy move in and out of their school, helping at the City of Refuge food bank, or at foundations like Hope Haven and Extra Special People — Bush remembers two years ago, as a freshman, playing a baseball game with kids from ESP and how much fun it was.
They’ll have a whole service week in the summer, when school and sports are on break, Talley said, and Alexander puts out offers across town saying they’ll help whenever and wherever needed.
Serving their community gives them a newfound appreciation for it, and Talley said it’s good to see things from a different perspective, that things are bigger than yourself and even the work. Bush added that it teaches them how to bond, and he’s going to be sure to nudge any new underclassmen toward participating next year.
“Our kids learn at a young age that giving back is important,” Alexander said. “We try to put as many opportunities in front of our young men to serve as we can. We talk about replacing yourself and being part of the community and giving back and how it’s all more important than anything we do.
“In Athens, there are so many great organizations and nonprofits that make our city move forward and do great things. I want our kids to have opportunity, whether they stay here and go to school or go away, Athens is a piece of their life. When you invest in your community, you care about it more.”
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