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Windsor High School Varsity Football Head Coach Benjamin DuBois noted that junior Cage DeBruyne had always felt like he was on the outside looking in.

Navigating life in a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy meant that DeBruyne would not be able to participate in high school sports activities, like football, that many kids likely take for granted.

But that all changed at the end of the 2023-24 school year when DuBois gave him an opportunity to become a member of Windsor’s varsity football team. 

After accepting the offer, DeBruyne has not for a moment taken the opportunity for granted, instead proving to be everything a coach could hope for in his level of dedication, work ethic, engagement and enthusiasm.

DeBruyne’s character has been consistent with the highest standards of a team captain, a title he now holds on the 2024 Dukes team.

He noted that being a member of the WHS varsity football squad means a lot to him.

“All my friends at our high school wanted me to be on the football team, and that’s where it all starts for me,” he said. “They just kept saying, ‘Get on the football team.’ They said it every single day. I was like, ‘Alright.’ So that’s where it all started.”

DuBois said, “Last year, I happened to walk past him in his classroom, and he was talking to some kids, and they were talking about football, and he was so excited.

“And I just went home that night, and I remember thinking about it on the way home,” the coach continued. “And in the middle of the night, I just popped up, and I said, ‘Cage.’ His name just came out of my mouth. And the next day when I got to school, I grabbed one of my coaches that works in the building with me and I turned around and went to (Cage’s) classroom, and I presented him with the opportunity to join our program — not as a mascot or a manager or anything like that. I actually wanted him to play football.”

As a member of the school’s staff, DuBois said he has DeBruyne as a student and is trained in how to meet some of his special needs during the course of a regular day.

“So I wanted to make sure that when he came out there (to be on the team), we could not just have him out there but help him,” the coach said. “Little did I know when I offered it to him that he would be one of the kids that showed up every day. His family makes sure he gets there every day.” 

Edward Holste is DeBruyne’s grandfather, but he has raised him since he was a year old, so Cage knows him as Dad. Holste has faithfully taken him to practices, scrimmages and now regular season games this year.

“Cage is Cage, and he wants to do it, so I ain’t going stand in his way,” Holste said. “He’s just really happy about it. It makes him feel part of something.”

DuBois said, “I thought that he would come here and there, but his grandpa said, ‘He is just so dead set on coming.’”

The coach has been in regular communication with DeBruyne before practices this summer and fall.

DuBois said, “Every day I get three (text) messages: ‘On my way there.’ ‘Almost there.’ And then I get another one that says, ‘Just got here.’ Every single day I get those messages, because he’s able to text and things like that.”

Then the coach explained DeBruyne’s work that he does with the team.

“When he comes in, if we’re in the weight room, he has his set of workouts with weights that he does, and if we’re outside and we’re stretching, he has certain stretches that he has to do,” DuBois said. “And then we also have some plays that he runs.”

His position was established during the offseason.

“Yeah, I’m a tailback,” DeBruyne said.

The coach said, “At some point in time during practice, we run his plays, and he has to know them, and he can’t fumble the football, and he has the same expectations as everybody else on the football team.

“We named him a captain because of his enthusiasm and his effort to try to be there,” the coach continued. “He was out of practice one day the whole summer, and that was because his grandfather had surgery, and he couldn’t bring him.”

DuBois said DeBruyne “about had a fit that he couldn’t get there, and that’s the kind of dedication that we want with our program. We want kids that feel bad when they can’t be there. That’s Cage all the way around. He’s the most excited kid just to be there, just to be doing what he’s doing. He doesn’t take it lightly.”

DeBruyne even participated in the team’s overnight camp this year.

DuBois said, “Me and my other coach, both of us work with (Cage) in school, so we know how to work with him when it’s time for him to lay down, restroom and all that stuff like that, so he stayed the whole three nights with us. He never went home — slept, ate and did everything with (the team).

“On the last day of the camp, we had a two-mile run, and he stayed with us the whole time,” the coach said. “So he’s a football player, and I love him being out there.”

DuBois noted that back when he made clear to Holste that Cage would not be joining the team as a mascot or as a manager but as a player, Holste broke down and cried.

“Because this is something he knows Cage has wanted for a long time,” DuBois said. “And Cage has always felt like he was on the outside looking in, and this makes him a part of it.”

Though DeBruyne has understood that certain opportunities would not be available to him, he has not allowed that to darken his disposition.

“He loves school. He loves going to football practice,” Holste said. “He’s just a really happy kid. He doesn’t really complain about his disability at all or nothing. He understands and accepts it and just goes on. He’s a good kid.”

Holste’s response echoed DeBruyne’s when asked what the opportunity to be a part of the WHS varsity football team meant to Cage.

“A lot,” Holste said. “He loves it, just being around all the kids and that. He only gets in like one play at the end of the game if they’re losing real bad or winning real good, so they’ll find a way to get him in the game, but because of his wheelchair, he’ll hurt too many kids if he runs them over, so they have to be careful with what they do with him. But he just loves it. He loves every minute of it.”

DuBois said he makes his team captains speak to the rest of the team, and DeBruyne regularly fulfills this duty.

One example came during Windsor’s Aug. 16 scrimmage at Rappahannock High School.

“The whole time he’s up and down the sideline,” DuBois said. “We put him on the track, and he stays back on the track, and he’s back and forth, and you hear him talking to the kids — ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!’”

And it was during that scrimmage that DeBruyne was able to take the field for the first time during a game situation against an opponent.

“It was my intention to just give him a carry, and they were going to tag him down and things like that,” DuBois said, “but the other team got so excited that they wanted to be in on it too, so they just let him score, and it was beautiful.”

Reflecting on being part of DeBruyne’s opportunity to be a member of the Dukes, the coach said, “If I had to highlight some things that I’ve done in my career, I would probably say this is one of the best things that I’ve done in my career.”

He explained why this opportunity has been so important for DeBruyne, the team and himself.

“Because one of the things as a coach that you preach all the time is dedication and effort and things like that,” he said. “Like I tell the kids, this is a kid that has every reason to have an excuse not to come or every reason that he can’t get there. I can’t just go by there and pick him up; you have to have special transportation for him, and (his family makes) sure that he gets there every day.”

DuBois indicated that by comparison, DeBruyne’s level of dedication makes anyone else’s reasons for not making it to practices, scrimmages or games seem like excuses.

He also indicated that DeBruyne’s qualities are everything that every coach wants in a player.

“They want that guy that’s going to stay engaged during a game, the guy that’s ready when you call on him, he puts forth all the effort in everything that you ask him to do, and he doesn’t want to be treated differently,” DuBois said. “It’s everything that you ask for as a coach.”

DeBruyne being a member of Windsor’s varsity football team translates into a lot more driving for Holste, but Holste said that is no big deal.

“It’s for Cage, and I’ll do anything for him,” he said.

Reflecting on summer practices, the preseason and now the start of the regular season, DeBruyne shared what has been his favorite part thus far about being a member of the team.

“Just being with my teammates, and just having fun,” he said.