The NOAH Jaguars are a sports league for home-schooled children.

They have a track and field team and some of their athletes recently won medals at the National Junior Olympics at Texas A&M.

In a sport that is all about personal bests and form, Michael Byrams trains his athletes not only to improve in the sport; he also wants to build their character.

“If they have that foundation and discipline, it should give them the strength to do something else, like become a doctor. They learned the discipline here and it flows into their career. They learned the discipline here and now they take out the garbage at home every week,” he said.

Michael is the head coach of the Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools – their team is known as the NOAH Jaguars.

He has been a coach for eight years and his athletes are between 10 and 18 years old.

Athletes like Anja Brandenburg have been inspired by his coaching methods – and it has paid off.

“We have such a great coach who just loves this team and really invests in it,” said Anja.

She and four others competed in the National Junior Olympics at Texas A&M last month. She says she not only strives to excel on the track, but also wants to be a good teammate.

“Absolutely. When I was younger, I looked up to the captains of our team, who are the juniors and seniors on the team, and the older I get, the more I see myself stepping into that role now and mentoring the younger ones,” she said.

Tulsa NOAH also offers other sports such as baseball, soccer and football for homeschooling students. Regardless of the sport, the message to the athletes is the same.

“The mission is to compete for something bigger than ourselves,” said Coach Byrams. “We want to make sure that what we do benefits somebody, inspires somebody, encourages somebody, lifts somebody up.”

These children have skills that will make them the best version of themselves – or run away.

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