ABOUT COACH ALLEN
Lawrence V. Allen Sr., attend Wichita South High School where he was a star running-back and help lead them to the city league Championship in 1971-72, before his graduation in 1973. After high school he received an athletic scholarship to play at Garden City Community College where he played for two seasons and was voted as one of the top All Star running-backs in the nation and accepted a full scholarship to play at Division 1, University of Dayton in Ohio. After finishing his playing days in Dayton Ohio, he received professional offers to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, and Seattle Seahawks.
Due to the loss of his Mother on June 11th, 1976, Lawrence elected not pursue a professional football career, but instead made the decision to come back home to Wichita Kansas finish his education that he promised his mom he would complete.
Lawrence received his B.A. in Education and History at Wichita State University (1982), and his M. A. in Human Resource Development/Organizational Development (HRD / OD) at Friends University (2000). He holds several certificates from continuing education department at Wichita State in Train the Trainer, Marketing Management, and Business Management.
Lawrence began his football coaching career in August of 1976 and is well known in the Wichita community as Coach Allen. He even began working at Boeing Military Aircraft in October of 1976 and retired from the Boeing Company in 2006 after 30 years of service all simultaneously while he was coaching youth and high school football. Coach Allen just recently retired from coaching in the Wichita areas after 40 years. During his long coaching career he has helped produce several hundred young student athletes including Wichita and Detroit Lion Hall of Famer Barry Sanders among many others.
Coach Allen comes from a family of great athletes that including six older and younger brothers starring in football, basketball, and baseball. The city of Wichita knows the Allen brothers quite well due to the success that existed from the family inheritance that came from their Dad Alvin (Pappy Allen).
Coach Allen has always been an avid writer while in college writing poetry and short stories that tap into his creative writing skills. While growing up in the urban community Coach Allen learned quite a bit about the Lord by watching and listening to his mom and grandmother. That was the jump-start he needed to begin his own personal journey in Christ by surrendering his life to Christ on December 31, 1972. In 2010, the Lord made it clear to Coach Allen through prayer and supplication that he would be held accountable for what he did with his life. After some down time with the Lord he began an outreach Ministry entitled The Lord's Champions (TLC) to help Coach, Teach, Train, and Equip men for service in the Kingdom of God. Coach Allen is looking forward to sharing his Ministry in the city and around the country with small groups, men's ministry teams, prison ministry, and church leadership teams. Coach Allen is well equipped to handle the job that the Lord has put him in charge of with his years of experience in the Church as a Bible historian, teacher, and a exegetical sharer of the Word all while serving his local congregation as a Deacon for 17 years, with the responsibility as educational director over youth Bible classes and head of Men's Ministries. Coach Allen also has completed seminary classes at The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI), under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Don Davis.
Larry is married to his high school sweetheart Deborah (Barnes) Allen on (12/21/1974), and they have 3 grown adult children, Tiffany Bryant (Jason Bryant), Larry Jr., and Mario.
They have ten grandchildren, eight girls and two boys , Zana, Jordyn, Symone (Tiffany & Jason), Alexus, Jalen, Ashlyn, Aubery, Alana, Ariana, Aiden, (Larry Jr), and one great grandson, Bryston Jr. (Alexus).