The Great Lee Family of Bristol VA

Yesterday my son and I participated in the annual Ballard Lee Scholarship Fundraiser Golf Tournament. Benefits go toward funding college tuition for merited and needy students on both sides of Bristol.

Ballard Lee was a long-time coach and teacher in the Bristol VA Public School System. He also became a friend of mine.

The best way I can describe Ballard to the reader is by telling a story. Stories have a way of painting and portraying the true character of someone far better than pure descriptions and lists of accolades do.

Ballard, a former Marine, also taught at our local Jacobs Creek Job Corps of the evening.

While Ballard taught at the Job Corps of the evening, I taught at the Bristol Jail.

It so happens that one of Ballard’s students at the Job Corps got into some trouble and wound up in the Bristol Jail. There he became a student of mine.

This young man told me, “I don’t want no White man teachin’ me. I want a Black man, like Coach Lee at the Job Corps.”

So I picked up my phone and called Coach Lee, right there in front of the young man.

“Ballard,” I said, “I’ve got a young man here who seems to think I shouldn’t teach him because I’m not Black. I think you know him. Would you mind talkin’ to him for a moment?”

I handed my phone to the wide-eyed, open-mouthed young man.

When that young man handed the phone back to me, after talking to Ballard Lee for about three minutes, his tone had changed completely.

“Mr. Talley,” the young man began, “I apologize to you. I am ready to learn from you. Thank you, sir.”

I never knew exactly what Ballard said to that young man … and I never asked him. But that three minutes changed that young man’s life. He became one of my finest students at the jail. Better than that, he learned not to stereotype people by their race … a lesson he could only learn from the only man he respected enough to teach him such a lesson. And that man would be none other than Ballard Lee.

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Carlos Lee (a nephew of Ballard Lee) is one of the greatest athletes ever to come out of Bristol Virginia High School. If not the greatest, he is certainly on anyone’s top ten list. Carlos played football, basketball, track, and baseball at VHS, excelling on all four.

Carlos went on from VHS to graduate with a degree in education from Concord College, where he played both baseball and football - and once led the nation in punt return average for a season.

Upon graduation from Concord, Carlos was invited for a try out with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL - and he made it until the very last cut.

Carlos then returned to Bristol and embarked upon a remarkable 40-some year career of coaching young people at many different sports - and teaching many different children over a wide range of age groups.

It was during this long teaching/coaching career that Carlos and I became and remain great friends.

I saw Carlos interact with children countless times over the years. He always seemed to maintain a remarkably calm composure. Steely strong in demeanor Carlos was, yet with a heart as big as the world. All it took for most kids was “the look” from Coach Lee - and they instantly ceased with whatever foolishness they were about to do. Carlos rarely had to take it to the next level. He was that good. He was that respected. Much the same as with his Uncle Ballard, it was because the kids all knew how much Carlos cared about them as an individual.

Carlos may very well have been the only Black elementary school librarian/high school golf coach/ex-NFL tryout invitee in the entire United States. All those qualifications I have never seen before or since in one person. Carlos was remarkable in that way; a man of many cultures, of many talents; a man for all seasons, so to speak. A man who had something in common with everyone.

Carlos started coaching high school golf about the time my own son, David, came to the team. My son immediately bonded with him.

One evening at our home I was instructing my son on some golfing strategy. But like most teenagers since the dawn of humanity, he was not listening well to his father. So I came to Carlos the next day at school and asked him to relay the same information to my son sometime. My son listened to anything Carlos said as if it were the Gospel.

Not many kids grow up in Bristol Virginia wanting to play golf. I wish more did. No sport could help them more in their future career, whatever it may be they ultimately decide to do in life. And it is a sport they can play for life.

Carlos took these kids, who frequently didn’t even begin to play golf until 8th or 9th grade - and often molded them into teams that went all the way to the state tournament. Being a great athlete himself, he also learned to play golf extremely well over time - shooting par on a good day.

I saw Carlos interact with children countless times at Van Pelt Elementary School, where we taught together for years. He was our school librarian. This man, who ran over many an opponent on the football field when younger, was as kind as anyone I ever saw toward little children.

There are several other members of the great Lee family of Bristol who are worthy of mention here … but I am running out of space to do so in this particular article. I hope to write about their stories another time. (Todd, Era, Michael, CJ, Landon, Amaya, Danika ... the list goes on. This is one great family, indeed.)