To the Editor:
I want to thank you for printing the story, “Monday Night Lights - An Invitation to see the Quakers Practice on Rec Field”. I write wearing many hats. Most prominently, I am a School Board Member and I am the father of both a Varsity (and a JV) football player.
I want to thank you for printing the story, “Monday Night Lights - An Invitation to see the Quakers Practice on Rec Field”. I write wearing many hats. Most prominently, I am a School Board Member and I am the father of both a Varsity (and a JV) football player.
I am writing to encourage the
entire community to come out tonight from 6:00 to 8:00pm to watch the football
team prepare for its season. As both a
father and Board Member I cannot express well enough how proud I am of this
team and these players. Regardless of
their won-loss record this year, these boys have already proven themselves
winners. They have overcome adversity,
uncertainty and forced change.
While the football program has
been under scrutiny recently, most members of the community and district are
not aware when the football program is spoken about what being part of the
program really means. Coach Tribou
taught so much to these boys. Many of
those lessons were about football, about being in shape and being
prepared. However, he taught these boys
so much more than the X’s and O’s of football.
Above all else, he taught these
boys about teamwork, about supporting each other, about honor, integrity, duty
and love. Imagine my surprise listening
to my first Tribou speech at the strongman a few years ago when all he talked
about was family, honoring your parents, loving your teammate and respecting
your teachers. 20 minutes of Billy
ranting and raving and not one thing was said about football. Bill Tribou had a knack for taking students
disengaged with school, screwing up in life or simply directionless and giving
them focus and motivation to make the most of themselves, to respect themselves
and appreciate themselves. While many
may quibble with his methods, none can question his intent.
Football, unlike many sports here
at Greeley is a year round commitment.
As it turns out, it is a parental commitment too. Twice a week, all winter and spring long, the
boys work on strength and conditioning in the Greeley weight room. At 6:30am.
The attendance rate is over 95% every Wednesday and Friday. And, since offseason workouts consist of
Juniors, Sophomores and Freshman, none of them have permission to drive to
school; a parent is dropping these boys off at 6:20am twice a week. During the season, there are walkthrough
meals to contribute to, ice packs to be administered, post game meals and the
unspoken worst part of being a football parent, the rides from practice or
games with some of the smelliest equipment and bodies you will ever encounter. If you see a car with its windows down in 40
degree fall weather leaving Greeley, you know why.
Since April, they have dealt with
the uncertainty of who would be coaching this year. That was not resolved until this summer. We welcome Tim Sullivan, Greeley grad,
longtime assistant coach, Yorktown High guidance counselor and Chappaqua
business owner (Quaker Hill). While Tim
is obviously his own man, he takes the same holistic approach to the team as
Coach Tribou. He and his staff have
already built a rapport with the players.
It fell to the captains, Teddy
Graves, Cory Ekstrom, Brent LoBien and Billy Marino to lead and motivate the
players through the spring. They stepped
up big time. They kept the team informed
of the latest updates all spring. They
lead by example in the weight room. They
helped plan for the coming season. They
passed their football knowledge down to the underclassmen. What most people, even other football parents
don’t know is that being the parent of a captain is a HUGE commitment as well.
A special thanks to the Graves,
the Ekstroms, the LoBiens and the Marinos who have stepped up and taken the
lead. I thank them for their polite yet
determined advocacy with the administration on behalf of the boys, with their
generosity in time and resources, and in their unwavering commitment to the
team. Incredibly enough, each captain’s
parents are given a 5” thick binder of how to support the team throughout the
year. They organize the spring Strongman
competition non-football activities, the preseason dinner, the post game meals,
the walkthru dinners, the game day merchandise sales, the preseason dinner, the
merchandise orders, they coordinate with the coaches, etc. The list goes on and on. Thank you!
The boys are two weeks away from
their first game at Brewster on September 7th.
So far they have dealt with losing a beloved coach, getting used to a
new coach, being told that there was not going to be a trip to camp this year,
and with repeated changes to what was years of routine. Almost weekly they were
told something else is changing.
For the last week and a half they
have come together, twice a day, once at 7:30 - 9:30 and again from 11:30 to
2:00, to put all the bs aside and play some football. I had the pleasure of watching two practices
so far and I am happy to report they are focused and determined to have a
successful season.
Come out tonight and watch them
practice. There will be hot dogs, drinks
and other food items available. The team
is hoping this will become a yearly tradition.
Its intent is to give back to the youth football program (ably led by
Pete Zimmerman, Greeley grad and owner of EZ Sports) so many of them started
in, and to create a family event for the entire community. Bring the entire family.
Come see how 40 high school boys
can overcome, ignore and put aside all the politics, limitations and changes
imposed on them by us adults and work toward their common goal of being great
teammates and a successful football team.
Sincerely,
JSM
