Photo by John Paul Osborn
Last month, sixteen former Destroyers donned their football jerseys to compete in the NY Giants Snow Bowl, a flag football tournament held at MetLife Stadium. The tournament benefited the Special Olympics New Jersey.
The idea to participate came from Chris Maynard who had seen a Facebook post regarding the event. “I thought it was a great cause and a great way to get the guys together.”
The team was required to raise at least $2000 to participate. By holding a fundraiser at Roscoe’s Wrap It Up Grill, selling T-Shirts, and individual fundraising efforts, the team raised $6,604. This placed them 7th overall in the whole event which had roughly 40 participating teams. The Snow Bowl raised $522,048 in total for the Special Olympics.
Because of this winter’s harsh weather, the team was not able to practice often, but they still managed to go 2-1 in divisional play. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual champion.
When asked about the experience, Maynard said, “To look up in the stands and see all our friends and family was awesome. And to see Coach DeNapoli and Coach Nolan come out to support some of their old players was truly special. We all had felt that even after all these years, to suit up in those colors is still very special and we are still very proud to do so. And we look forward to doing it for years to come. ”
Maynard said that they are already planning for next year’s tournament.
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Team members:
Stevie Bovo ’06
Justin Bowman ’00
Luke Ciannello ’98
Brian Cilento ’01
Pat DeNapoli ’99
Dave Doll ’99
Matt Grasso ’06
Kyle Harmon ’00
Chris Maynard ’99
Tim Maynard ’04
Chris Osborn ’07
Jeff Puckett ’12
Jamelle Pyles ’00
Jeff Roscoe ’96
Rontik Sadler ’11
John Schleppenbach ’06