NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia — For Dwayne Johnson, Father's Day is near and dear to his heart. For 23 years, he was the track coach at Woodside High School. He instead wanted to try something different. Five years ago, he founded the website, SpotlightHigh.com. It came about when his daughter, Tiarra was a freshman tennis player for the Wolverines. One particular day, the match she was playing, turned out to be a very good, but there was no one there locally to cover it.
The married father of two decided, why not do themselves and wound up covering other non-traditional sports like tennis, volleyball and baseball along with football and basketball. By the time his daughter was 16, she came on board as a co-owner. "I'm so proud of my daughter, but when I sat down with her and my son and my wife, it was special, because I love sports and why not do sports than with people in your own home", he said.
Tiarra admitted initially she was overwhelmed, but found when she looked to her father, everything started to fall together. Now 21 and attending Thomas Nelson College, she's found a sense of balance. "Time management", she says. "Write everything down. I have everything in my phone. Every event. Everything I have to do. Homework, I put in my phone."
On this special day for dads, Dwayne knows doing something like this with his daughter, wife Conttina and son Christopher, is the ultimate gift. "The United States celebrates Father's Day one day, but by trying to be a great father we're going to do it everyday and just to have them around me and see them helping out and give back to the community. That makes me very proud as well. That my kids are giving back."