Adriving rainstorm threatened to dampen the mood on an unmarked softball field at Deerwood Elementary School last month. But the goodwill games went on as the Orange County Public Schools Faculty and Spouse Flag Football League crowned its inaugural champion.
It’s too early to tell if years from now anyone will remember the day that Evans High, with assistant principal and interception leader Rolando Bailey, earned a big win over Riverdale Elementary, led by league MVP and physical education teacher Dale Greifenstein.
That’s because as much as the players in the seven-team co-ed league wanted to win, more important was the fun and camaraderie forged during Saturday afternoons throwing a football around. It started with a few e-mails and phone calls between Deerwood assistant principal Neal Phillips and several others from area schools.
Those conversations helped spread the word and has since led to commitments from two more schools, Discovery and Legacy, which plan to field teams when the OCPSFSFFL returns in the fall. By the time Phillips originally began fielding inquiries from interested teachers and faculty members, the response was well worth putting forth the effort and making the league a reality.
The seven participating schools, along
with Evans and Riverdale, were
Deerwood, West Creek, Stone Lakes and
a split squad from East Lake and Pinar
elementary schools along with Corner
Lake Middle.
The weekend league helped to bring
these educators together outside of the
classroom, introducing them and their
families to others just like them.
“It just kind of formed that way,” said Phillips. “People are always looking for something to do. “I didn’t expect it to be that big of a deal though, but it’s very competitive and people plan their weekend around it.” And they talk about it throughout the week, too.
Teams show up on game day with official T-shirts representing school names and colors. Phillips does his best to referee the games and settle disputes while tossing around a Pittsburgh Steelers’ “Terrible Towel” when infractions occur.
He’s no stranger to bringing others together in this way. Just last year, while the western Pennsylvania transplant was the assistant principal at East Lake, he helped organize a teacher and faculty basketball fundraiser with the help of the PTA. Those events helped raise money for a field trip, tutoring programs and the SOAR Aid program , which helps assist families at East Lake who are struggling through medical troubles.
“People are like, ‘How did you do this?’“ he said of getting the fundraisers and flag football league together. “All you do is pick up the phone. You might get two or three noes, but then you get the right person and before you know it you can make some things happen a lot of times.”
There has already been talk among many of the flag football participants about putting together another fundraiser during the upcoming school year, this time in the form of a softball game. “It doesn’t take much to organize something like this that can really balloon, especially when you’re talking about teachers,” said Phillips.
“You have a lot of people who work very hard and sacrifice and would want to have a good time with their colleagues if there was opportunity to do so.” And it’s likely those will continue, come rain or come shine.
