Prep football 2025: PURE Academy embarks on maiden TSSAA voyage with big dreams
PURE Academy quarterback Hersel Key during practice on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. PURE is an acronym for Progressing Under Restraints and Extremes. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
At PURE Academy, the mirrors aren’t for vanity. And a poem is every bit as important as the playbook.
The poem in question is “Invictus,” written 150 years ago by William Ernest Henley. It touches on themes of self-reliance and the mastery of one’s soul and PURE’s players are required to memorize it, lining up single file to recite it together prior to breakfast after a recent early morning practice.
You may not know “Invictus,” but you surely know its famous closing couplet: I am the master of my fate/I am the captain of my soul.
And while it won’t win the city’s newest program any games, the poem is part of a larger goal. To build the football team while at the same time building young men in a way that is unique among schools in Shelby County.
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TSSAA High School Football Pure Academy DeJuan McQuarters Subscriber OnlyAre you enjoying your subscription?
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John Varlas
John Varlas is a lifelong Memphian who has covered high school sports in various capacities for over 20 years.
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