GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (GRPS) - For sophomore Chance Hammingh, the final school bell doesn’t signal the end of the day; it signals the start of everything else.
Hammingh, Union’s starting quarterback, spends his afternoons lifting, practicing, studying, and coaching—all while balancing the demands of being a straight-A student at City High Middle School. This year, his commitment to football has also become the focus of his tenth grade Personal Project, a major capstone assignment in City’s International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme.
As part of the project, Hammingh is coaching a youth football team, giving him a chance to experience the game from a different perspective. It’s a fitting pursuit for someone who understands that football is more than just a game.
So, when school dismisses at 2:45, Hammingh heads to Union, squeezes in some homework, lifts for an hour, then heads to practice until 6:15 p.m. From there, he goes straight to youth football practice before returning home to refuel and finish his homework.
During the season, team meals also become part of the routine. Every Wednesday after practice, the entire high school program gathers for dinner, made possible by generous donations from family, friends, and community partners. It’s another opportunity for players to strengthen the relationships Hammingh believes are essential to a successful team.
For him, all that work comes together on the field.
“There’s a point in practice when I get to truly play: starting O, scout O, scout D,” Hammingh said. “It feels like pure football, and I love it.”
Hammingh trains year-round, lifting weights and working on his quarterback skills while also playing basketball and golf for the Redhawks. Football, however, is the sport he loves the most.
“I love football so much that I take it so seriously,” he said. “It’s obviously also for fun, but I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well because of how much it means to me.”
His preparation starts well before kickoff. Before each season, Hammingh’s preseason ritual is to read QB1 by Mike Lupica. And before each game, he visualizes plays and mentally prepares himself before taking the field.
Much of that preparation is shaped by the people who have helped him along the way. Hammingh credits his moms with shaping who he is today. “My moms have taught me everything I know,” he says, a testament to the foundational role they have played in his life. His grandpa Jack, meanwhile, instilled in him an approach to life rooted in kindness.
On the football side, he credits the Union coaching staff with believing in him as an underclassman, as well as his personal quarterback coach, Cole Kotopka of West Side Quarterbacks, for helping transform the way he throws.
His commitment doesn’t come without sacrifice. Time with friends and family can be limited, and school and football can become stressful. Hammingh has learned to maximize every spare minute, whether that means working ahead in class or using a 20-minute gap between activities to finish an assignment.
He believes the work is worth it because of what Union football represents.
“I think that people sometimes have the view about GRPS that the grass is always greener somewhere else,” Hammingh said. “But I think that when we come together as a team and as a community, special things happen. I love being part of this program.”
That same sense of belonging drives Union High School senior Jayshawn Craig.
Craig, a running back and linebacker who also plays rugby, has spent years preparing for this season. His offseason training focused on becoming faster, stronger, and more explosive. At practice, the work starts with stretching and blocking drills before moving into offensive and defensive installation.
Craig also puts in extra work at Briggs Park, gets in early morning workouts on weekends, and maintains a nightly routine of pushups and squats. He says those evening exercises are something his dad started with him at the age of ten, and he’s carried it forward ever since.
Keeping up with that training while staying on top of his schoolwork is Craig’s biggest challenge.
“It’s hard but possible,” Craig said of being a student-athlete. “During football season, my grades are way better. I’m less stressed, more focused.”
His favorite part of the week comes just before a game. He gets off the bus, puts on his headphones, walks from end zone to end zone, then runs the length of the field. As kickoff approaches, the adrenaline builds.
Once he runs out of the tunnel just before kickoff, the nerves disappear.
This season, Craig has embraced a leadership role, regularly telling his teammates, “Put the weight on me.”
His message is simple: believe in me, believe in each other.
“At the end of the day, we’re all brothers,” he said. “We are playing this season for each other.”
That may be the clearest connection between Hammingh and Craig. For both, Union football is about more than individual success. It is about teammates, coaches, families, and a community choosing to invest in one another.
Craig wants to make the most of his final season in a Redhawks uniform, leaving the program knowing he gave it everything he had. Hammingh hopes to play college football and eventually become a coach. Right now, he is already learning what it means to lead, both on the field and from the sidelines.
Football has given both of them more than a sport. It has given them people to believe in, people who believe in them, and a community they are proud to help build. Sometimes, the most meaningful place is the one where you choose to invest.
After all, the grass is always greenest where you water it.
