NewCanaanite.com (http://nctest.proxy02.mageenet.net/tag/new-canaan-football)
Participation supports partial scholarships for graduating student athletes and helps supplement the football program operating budget, including funding of coaches at all levels.
[Note: Update here.]
Saying it’s the best thing for local students and their families, officials from New Canaan and Greenwich are asking the organization that oversees high school sports in Connecticut to consider moving a state championship football game this weekend closer to home. The Rams and Cardinals will square off Saturday for a widely anticipated Class LL championship after advancing in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference tournament.
As it stands, the game is likely to be played at Shelton High School, though NCHS Athletic Director Jay Egan said officials from both lower Fairfield County high schools are asking whether it could be moved to Stamford’s Boyle Stadium, which is available. “Greenwich and New Canaan are advocating for a venue that would be most advantageous for our students and our fans to see the game, so they will not have to travel so far and all the reasons that make sense,” Egan told NewCanaanite.com. “Both schools are interested in what is best for the school and communities.”
Referring to the high schools’ advocating for a nearby venue, he added, “We would be remiss if we did not do that.”
CIAC officials could not be reached for comment. Asked what reasons CIAC officials have for not playing a New Canaan-Greenwich football game at a venue that’s halfway between them, Egan told NewCanaanite.com that the organization has said championship game sites are set before the season, that they’re chosen carefully with all potential teams in mind and that making a last-minute change could set a bad precedent.
NCHS head coach Lou Marinelli’s Rams have played against a Cardinals team coached by his son, John, four times since the latter took the helm at Greenwich High School in 2015.
Over the past few years, the saying, “Saturdays Are For The Boys” has grated on my every nerve. Is Saturday for the boys? Only the boys? Really? Not in my house.
The year 2008 was supposed to be about rebuilding for the New Canaan Rams football program: The team was ranked in the bottom half of the FCIAC’s preseason polls and only a handful of starters from the previous season were returning. They were not expected to accomplish anything special. Yet they ended up doing exactly that, with unforeseen contributions from a particularly tight-knit squad that would post an undefeated record heading into a dramatic showdown versus New Canaan’s longtime rival before moving on to states—cementing a legacy whose storybook season launched 10 years ago this month. Behind center
One of the squad’s returning starters, tri-captain Nate Quinn, switched from defense to quarterback for 2008, marking a dramatic turnaround for what New Canaan had been fielding in recent years at the all-important position. The Rams had won consecutive state titles in 2006 and 2007 with guys like Curt Casali and Charlie Westfal at QB.
Tickets to this year’s Turkey Bowl may be purchased online in advance of the football game, and paper tickets also will be sold on Thanksgiving morning at Boyle Stadium in Stamford, officials say. Those who wish to purchase their $10 tickets in advance may do so here, according to New Canaan High School Athletic Director Jay Egan. Children 5-and-under will be admitted for free. “There will be no paper tickets sold in the Athletics Office,” Egan said in an email to local media outlets. The online purchase option is being presented by Darien High School as the “home” team this year.