“We Believe”

How the “WE BELIEVE” Motto Began

From David Crain, Forest Hill Baseball – 1970

I had the pleasure of playing on Coach Perry’s first team at Forest Hill in 1970. We worked harder than any baseball team I have ever seen to this day. We had an uphill sandpit that was about 20 yards long, and we ran every day. We swung bats until our hands bled. We ran the bases until we could not run anymore. It was tough on everyone, and several players left or were dismissed. Several of the key players that remained were unhappy with the situation. This was not what they had signed up for.

The seniors met with Coach, who agreed that he had been tough on us. He explained that he needed to weed out some players he knew were wrong for the team. He was now pleased with the ones that were left, but insisted that we needed something else to be successful- but he wasn’t sure what it was. We need “togetherness” to compete at a high level.

Coach felt we should adopt a motto to help us set goals and play our best as individuals and as
a team. I’ll never forget the speech he gave us after we had a loss early in the season: He said
that if you believe in yourself, you will work harder and improve. If you improve, then you are
helping the team improve. If all team members believe in themselves, the team will improve.
So, believe in yourself and believe in your teammates and coaches. Where do you get the
motivation to do this? Here’s where Coach Perry nailed it. He said, “First you must believe in
Jesus as your personal Savior. Then the other beliefs will follow.”

That, my friends, is how the WE BELIEVE motto began. Note that this slogan also became the class motto of the Forest Hill Class of 1970.