WYFCL WIZARD FOOTBALL PLAYERS STEP UP TO HELP BRONX TEAM

Seeking equipment donations for Bronx players

WYFCL and the Coaches from our Wizards 11U Team would like to thank all of our Football families for their patience and support this past Saturday when we hosted the Bronx Falcons at our home, Lasser Park. For those of us in attendance, we realized that Saturday’s game was more than a Football game from the moment that the opposing team and their 2 Coaches arrived in 2 taxis at our home field. The time we all spent waiting for them to arrive was suddenly forgotten when we saw these young kids walk out on to our Football field, most of them without the proper Football equipment and more than a few were without any Football equipment at all.

It was clear that this was more than a game and we all were a part of something very special on Saturday. When our hometown families cheered for these Bronx kids running out on our field, it was one of the few times I have seen tears all around me on the Football field, with myself included. We were welcoming children on our field that were excited and couldn’t wait to play our Washingtonville Wizards in the woods, as many of them called Lasser Park.

I am personally so proud of our kids, our Coaches and our WYFCL families for the way that we came together as one to help these great kids that just couldn’t wait to get on the field to play a game that they love to play with their friends. Our WYFCL family provided these kids with equipment, food, water, transportation assistance, encouraging cheers and most importantly, brotherly love and a place to play.

WYFCL, as an organization, will be donating some of our equipment that we no longer need and we will be reaching out to our neighboring OCYFL programs to see if they can help with equipment donations as well.

Many of our families have reached out to WYFCL and have expressed that they would like to help these children, along with similar children, with further donations of equipment, footwear, etc. If you have and used or extra equipment, footwear, etc. that you would like to donate to other children, please contact Jimmy@WashingtonvilleWizards.com to make drop-off arrangements to our Equipment Room. We are at the Football field almost every day with our Spring Tackle practices.

Our kids learned a few life lessons and grew up a little more on Saturday. Most of them expressed that they are happy that they get to play Football in Washingtonville with all of their friends and they appreciate their parents for giving them that opportunity. And their new friends from the Bronx had a great time at our field (in the woods) playing the game they love with their new friends in Washingtonville. Some of the Falcons wore our yellow Wizards pennies, and I was sure to tell them "Once a Wizard, always a Wizard" and I told them they are always welcome to come play us again. The Coaches and the kids from the Bronx are hopeful that they can come back to our home, Lasser Park, and our football family would love to welcome them back and cheer for them again.

Thank you again to our everyone in our Football family for their overwhelming support for the kids and our program.

Jamie Ferrazzano

WYFCL President, Coach & Parent