For those of us who grew up playing youth football, there’s nothing like fall Saturdays. I should know. I was one of those kids.
Every Saturday morning I would get up early to eat breakfast while watching cartoons. Then I would head out to meet the van that took us to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx where we would practice. After lunch, we piled back into the van and headed across the bridge to Randall’s Island where we would play our league games against teams like Astros, Bill Dave, Champions, and the Roadrunners.
It was a full day where you played with kids from all over the city. Kids with so much talent it was a travesty they didn’t have the same opportunities and access as some of us did. Access to education, resources, coaching, mentorship, and a safe, stable home environment. One which encouraged, taught, developed, and inspired kids to do great things. Instead, many were swept up and discarded as products of their environment.
For some kids, football was their savior. A chance to meet new friends and learn from others. An opportunity to release the aggression and anger bottled up internally. A moment to showcase skills only appreciated on the dirt fields of the Bronx.
That’s why it’s so infuriating to hear about what happened to the Bronx Panthers youth football team.
After Covid eliminated their fall season, they took to the field in the Belmont section of the borough this past weekend. Unfortunately, they did so without equipment. That’s because when coaches went to the storage unit last month, their hearts dropped.
It was broken into, vandalized, and ransacked. All of the equipment stolen. That includes banners, shoulder pads, and over 200 helmets.
Another devastating blow to the kids who anxiously and painstakingly waited for their moment.
“The kids were crying, and I shed a tear too,” said coach Nathan Collins to News12.
Police are investigating the incident. But team president Shawn Godboat refused to let the theft deter the program’s primary purpose.
To teach.
“Education is our aim, football is our game,” said Godboat.
While many have questioned the hazards of football in recent years, the game is about so much more than physical contact. It educates, instills confidence, and surrounds kids with friends and adults who support and motivate. It also removes them from the reclusiveness of staying indoors and re-introduces them to socialization. And for some, it provides them with father figures that they sorely lack.
Fortunately for the kids of the Bronx Panthers, one thing they don’t lack is a leader and community support.
“We started with nothing, and that’s not going to break our spirit,” said Godboat. “We’re going to keep doing what we do. These kids, I mean, they mean more to us than that.”
The program welcomes donations but equipment is the biggest priority right now. This will help them prepare quicker.
Youth football, and the Bronx, introduced me to a sport I played from the age of 10 until I hung up my cleats at 40. Learning that a few fools snatched their happiness away is angering. I know I’ll be heading to Dick’s Sporting Goods this weekend. Or better yet, Parkview Sports Center in Riverdale, right across from Van Cortlandt Park. That’s where my father took me to buy my first Riddell helmet, Bike pants and pads, and Wilson gloves before I walked onto the field for the Bill Dave Youth Football team.
And it all started in the Bronx, where I will do my part to help kids partake in, and enjoy, the sport that I came to love.
