by Steve Bradley
Twenty-seven teams from fourteen communities came to Hoosick Falls Central School Saturday, August 27 to participate in the youth football combine. Over 1,000 people attended the event.[private] Cars were parked on Route 22 from the Bakers Nursery building to Wysocki’s farm and on every square inch of the HFCS parking lot and parts of the lawn except for narrow gaps to let exiting vehicles out. The event, held annually at rotating sites, was for the Junior and Senior divisions of the Northern Youth Football League.
It gives teams a chance to scrimmage other teams in preparation for the upcoming season. Each team was on defense for twenty minutes and then offense for twenty minutes. After scrimmaging one team, each team would take a break and then scrimmage another team. The Seniors played on the football field while the Juniors played on the upper field behind the school.
The Northern Youth Football League has two divisions, the Adirondack and the Empire. The Empire division consists of Bennington, Brunswick, Hoosick Falls, Manchester, Mechanicville, Schuylerville and Stillwater. The Adirondack division teams are Cambridge, Granville, Greenwich, Hoosic Valley, Salem, Vermont (Poultney area) and Watervliet. This year the teams will compete with new team names. They are now the Junior Panthers and Senior Panthers, replacing the long used Raiders and Irish names.
The season starts on September 4 for the Hoosick Falls teams, who compete in the Empire Division. It will be a home game againsts Brunswick. The Junior Panthers game begins at 11 am and Senior Panthers begin play at 1:30 pm. Games will be at the Waterworks just beyond the baseball fields off Carey Avenue. Home games are Sept. 4, Sept. 18 and Oct. 2. The kids would love to have an audience.
The Combine organizers would like to give Carrie Garippa a special thank you. Garippa donated 35% of the proceeds from her All-American Pie Fries concession booth back to the league. The concession area was a hopping place all day.
The Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad had at least one vehicle at the event all day. The $453 50/50 was won by a Manchester man. Next year’s Combine will be held in Granville. [/private]