In order to have a successful marriage, you need to have commitment from both people. In order to have a successful football team, you need a committed coach. So how do the two interact and balance? Sometimes, they can’t. But sometimes, that commitment comes easy in both things mentioned. What about a marriage that’s centered around football? Is it as special? Yes, it certainly is.

Bob and Beth Dare of Cambridge Christian have been married since June of 1980, a total of 36 years. They married when Bob was set for his first year of 19 as the Head Coach at Northside Christian. Since then, they’ve embraced the football scene as the center of their marriage, especially throughout Bob’s long coaching career in both Pinellas and Hillsborough County.

One of the major hallmarks of the Dare’s marriage is the family environment that they have created at Cambridge Christian. Former players, and even families of players come back to CCS to visit Dare and catch a game. “Even our children are involved,” Bob said. “Our oldest son Jarrett is an equipment manager and he helps us with stats, and my other son Bobby is an assistant coach for us. Our pastor and his wife are even on the sidelines watching the game. I had his three sons at Northside.”

The Dares have always been a football family, and that tradition has continued in recent years at Cambridge, especially with their recent success. “I’m so thrilled for Bob, we all are really. He works very hard at what he does, he loves the boys. It’s been really good to overcome a couple things that happened a few years ago, and to have this kind of success. The family is so excited, as well as his former players,” Beth said.

Beth is the team photographer for the Lancers, sometimes staying up much later than Bob does on game nights. She edits the photos until about 4 a.m., then sends them to the players and posts them on social media. On the side, the two photograph weddings and special occasions together to keep them busy when it’s not football season. “Even our little five-year old grandbaby is starting to get into the photography business,” Beth said. “He’ll photograph the team coming out onto the field, then give me the memory card and ask me to edit the photos. Some of them don’t come out half-bad, either.”

“It’s all about listening to each other. He does a great job of not bringing his work home with him, but if he does come home looking stressed, we give each other a kiss, I pour him a glass of iced tea, and we talk about the day. He doesn’t come home screaming about something wrong, he doesn’t come home angry, and he’s really just perfect in that way, at least in my eyes,” Beth said.

But sometimes, there comes a time where there is too much football, whether it be high school or college (the Dares are huge college football fans), and they want to get away from it all. They did that over this offseason in a trip to Israel, where they were able to get away from football and everything back at home, but still be able to be together. It was the first time in a long time that they were able to do that, to get away from the football and Bay Area scene, and both were certainly refreshed by the trip.

Let’s go back to last season in particular. Dare was in his seventh season as CCS head coach, and he had his Lancers primed for a playoff run. Cambridge Christian would find themselves in the Class 2A Title Game against University Christian. The Lancers would find the wrong end of a blowout, and they would fall 61-16. When it was all said and done, there wasn’t a sense of disappointment of what could’ve been, but there was a ton of optimism and feelings of accomplishment for what had just been done.

“I may have been more disappointed that he was,” Beth said. “We were just really excited for what was happening, the school had never had a playoff appearance, much less a State Championship game appearance. The whole family was proud and just the whole experience was great. If anything, it showed how good Bob was as a coach, it was a testament to how much he loved the kids.”

On a more positive note, one of the fun things about being a football player at Cambridge is the cookie tradition. Beth started the tradition at Northside, and whenever the Lancers get a win, Beth bakes cookies for the players. With the recent success of Cambridge, they’re getting a ton of cookies, as they’re currently 6-0. Some of the response towards it has been great.

“Thank you for the best cookies in the world,” said offensive lineman Kyle Back in a Tweet. Back transferred from Steinbrenner over the offseason. “Thank you for the cookies every week! We appreciate them,” said ATH J’Kobi Reddick in a tweet. The players love the cookies, and they love winning, and they love those cookies.

At the end of the day, it’s all about the commitment between the Dares, which they have both on the football field and in the home. They’re committed, not only to the game, but to each other, which will hold up a lot more in time. “We’ve realized over the many years that we’re not going to make everybody happy. But we’re not supposed to. We’re focusing on our ministry, which is this football team. I tell people that my youth group just happens to have pads and helmets. It’s been quite an incredible journey for us,” Bob said.

“Without each other, we wouldn’t have anything,” Beth said. It’s been a long marriage, and a long journey for the two of them, but they’ve been able to manage all the critics, and to strengthen their marriage and themselves throughout the course of their 36 years of being together. It may not always be about Cambridge Christian football, but when it is, expect for Bob and Beth to be involved until the end.