Spring Football Ends with McKenna/Lightfoot Classic

Waking up at 5am to get to a 630am practice is hard for everyone, both players and coaches. But when it comes to May at Grand Street, baseball is usually deep into the city playoffs. So in 2007 we instituted the morning practice for Spring football and it has been a success ever since. This year we went with a 10 day offense and 10 day defense format, culminating with our spring flag football game

This year was a little different though. After the current players worked their way through the tournament, the met the 2007 Alumni in a battle of past versus present, with the rest of the team draped across the sidelines. Following that game, an all-star team was picked from the present team to play against the alumni.

The action was fierce. Midway through the game, Orlando "Ola" Tulloch proclaimed that the future is now with an ankle-breaking juke move after catching the ball. Joseph Otero also scored for the all-stars. All in all, Grand Street was the winner with a strong spring coming to a close.

Soon I will post the pics from the game, taken by Coach Batesky.

Sponsorship

Maurice Brown lives on the internet. It was three years ago that I received a random email from a Junior High School student that was interested in running track. He saw that Grand Street had a track, but was not sure if we had a team. I replied that we may have track team in the future and if we did, I hoped to be the coach. Mo Brown had a signature style to all of his emails always ending with “thank you in advance”.

Advance three years later and Mo Brown is a sophomore wide receiver and corner that has already earned 2 varsity letters. Plucked from the junior varsity during his freshman year, he has been a contributor on varsity since that time. Never hesitant to promote himself, Mo Brown (#10) wears a t-shirt with his current cell phone number printed on the back. Mo is all over myspace, with pages for the 2nd Coming and Team Gatorade, the latter of which came about after Mo wrote to Gatorade and let them know that he wanted to be sponsored. Since then Mo has received a shipment of Gatorade every month.

A big season is expected from Mo Brown. However, there are many things that Mo must worry about that other football players around the country don’t have to bother themselves with. Do I have a Metrocard to get to practice? Do I have a decent pair of cleats?

The Grand Street Campus Wolves Football program works hard to help our players reach a level playing field with those they play against and those that play the sport of Football around the country. In the past seven years, we have welcomed the NFL Play It Smart program to our school, we have hosted a football site for the Big Apple Games, players have participated in football camps organized by Temple University and The University of Buffalo, and nine football players have attended the Joe Namath Football Camp at Western Connecticut State on scholarships, with four more set to attend this year. The Grand Street Campus Autism Awareness Team helped to raise over $1000 this year through various events.

We need help from our boosters to help raise funds for our 2008 season. Please partner with us to bring the best sports experience we can to our team. Send an email to: big.offense@gmail.com and I will give you all the information about preseason or in-season sponsorship opportunities.

Former Joe Namath Scholarship Honorees Pictured - New Honorees Announced

Pictured from left to right: Lehkem Rose, Will Guillaume, Coach McKenna, Jeremiah Brown, Gerald Reece
In Front: Adonijah Delancy
The Joe Namath Camp Scholarships were announced today, along with the addition of the Eleven Arrows JNFC Scholarship. The total of Grand Street Football players attending the camp is now at four. With Jerry Brown and Kadeem Huggins working as counselors, Grand Street will have a significant footprint on this camp.

Scholarship Winners for 2008:
Devon Lapierre - Offensive Tackle/Defensive End - Soph. 6'1" - 215
Tyrese Defreitas - Running Back/Linebacker - Soph. 5'8" - 175
Justin Andujar - Quarterback/Defensive Back - Jr. 5'8" - 170
David McCall - Offensive Tackle/Nose Guard - Jr. 5'11" - 300

First Alternate
Mo Brown - Wide Receiver/Defensive Back - Soph. 5'10" - 150

GSC Wolves 3rd Annual Golf Outing

It is 830pm and Quarterback Justin Andujar is tired. He woke up at 5am so that he could arrive at the Grand Street Campus field for a 630am practice. At 8am, Justin reported for his first period class and after a full day of honors classes, he reports to the weight room for an hour and half of lifting. Today, after lifting, Justin will travel to the practice bubble at Giant Stadium to participate in the New York Giants Quarterback Camp.
Justin has been a backup quarterback for two years and this is his year to run the offense.
Justin and the rest of the Grand Street Campus Wolves Football Team are no strangers to hard work. They know that their work will translate into wins and loses.

What Justin does not know is that he has been selected to go to Joe Namath Football Camp in July along with three others, on scholarships. He will be joined by his mentor and former teammate Jeremiah Brown, who will be coaching for the first time at the camp. Jerry Brown will be attending Wagner College in the fall on a full athletic scholarship. Also earning a full scholarship from last years team is Kadeem Huggins, who will be attending CW Post. After playing in the Wolves football program for four years, they understand the impact they have on those that will come after.
They know that the next game is never guaranteed.

The cost of operating a football team in New York City is expensive. The budget for football is small and teams are forced to charge dues for their players, many of which cannot afford it. In addition, things many teams take for granted, such as uniforms and buses, are things that we need to actively fundraise for.

Our boosters are the life-blood of our fundraising effort. Local businesses and individuals have been generous for the past two years when it has come to support for our annual Golf Outing. For the third time, on June 14th, we will have our outing at the Clearview Golf Course in Bayside, NY. We have a variety of sponsorship opportunities available, including event and hole sponsorships. Please help us to raise funds to give our players the very best in equipment and opportunities.

For information, please email: bigoffense@gmail.com

The Future Backfield?

"So, Coach Mack, who are the starting running backs?"
With the three-headed monster of Brian Mackey, Lehkem Rose and Adonijah Delancy all set to graduate, a significant group of upstarts look to take their place. Tyrese Defreitas, Michael Thompson, Anderson Smith and Arsenio Lee are returning veterans looking to fill the role. Rookie Brandon Shade was also impressive in spring practice. However, we won't find out until September who will get the start vs. Midwood.
Picture above: Michael Thompson and Tyrese Defreitas vs. Far Rockaway 2007.

300

Wolves Schedule Released

9/6/2008 home opener vs. Midwood
9/13/2008 At Wagner (Staten Island)
9/20/2008 At New Utrecht (Brooklyn)
9/27/2008 At Grady (Brooklyn)
10/5/2008 Vs. Lincoln
10/11/2008 Vs. Canarsie (City Champ runner up 2008)
10/18/2008 Vs. Fort Hamilton (City Champ 2006 & 2007)
10/25/2008 AT Brooklyn Tech (Downtown Brooklyn)
11/2/2008 At boys & girls (Brooklyn)

The Wednesday Playlist

The variety of music played in the Grand Street Campus Weight Room is vast. Teenagers are funny and on any given day the playlists differ, but in 2008 the Wednesday playlist has been consistent and has become the soundtrack to the team the players have dubbed "The Second Coming". The ones that are into the wednesday playlist the most are the Boxers, the ones that train with me on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-630pm.
Wednesday Playlist
Saul Williams - List of Demands
Fishbone - Servitude
The Roots - Get Busy
Ghostface Killah - Toney Seigel aka the barrel bros
New Kingdom - Big 10 1/2
Foo Fighters - Down in the Park
Faith No More - Last Cup of Sorrow
Tv on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
Gnarls Barkley - Going On
Beastie Boys - So Whatcha want
The Roots - Rising Down
Lil Wayne + Birdman - Stunner like my daddy (Travis Barker Remix)
Jay-Z - Hello Brooklyn
Beastie Boys - High Plains Drifter
Freeway - It's Over
Jay-Z - Roc Boys
Fishbone - End The Reign

The "jet" is the winner

Steve "The Jet" Sherwood, of ESPN radio's Sports Journey radio program is the 2008 winner of "Stacking the Board". A check for $20 will be donated in Steve's name to help the fundraising effort of Maverick Gazzillo's elementary school in Queens.

Listen to Steve Sherwood and Lake Lewis archived on www.sportsjourney.com