Youth Football Night

Thank you VERY much to all the youth football teams that attended our game on Saturday. All the players and teams were called onto the field during an extended halftime and had an impromptu meet-and-greet with the Invaders players in the endzone and some even got to meet the Vikings including Bobbie Martin who gave a small inspirational speech to some of the boys and girls, thank you Bobbie!!

Those who stayed for the complete game, witnessed a real nail-biter as the North Coast Vikings punched in for the go-ahead score with 1:50 left in regulation giving them an 18-14 lead over the "home" team Invaders. The Invaders offense rose to the challenge and drove 60 yards to cap it off with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Sylvester Parker with only 2.7 seconds left!! The Invaders held on the ensuing kick-off to take the victory. Thank you to the Vikings for such a GREAT game!

I want to send a sincere "Thank You" to all of the local youth teams that took advantage of the Ohio Invaders "Youth Football Night" on Saturday.  The kids had such a great time and the players from both clubs really enjoyed the impromptu interaction with the youth players at halftime and after the game.  Many players were actually asked for autographs and asked to pose for photographs!  These kids treated us like professionals and I have to also give accolades to both clubs for acting like professionals before, during and after the game and how both clubs cheered the youth players onto the field at halftime!

An autograph request for Todd, one of the Invaders tackles, really puts into perspective how these kids viewed the players.  A youth player asked for his autograph and Todd put the paper in the palm of his hand to sign.  The youth asked "Do you want to use my back to sign".  Todd replied that it wasn't necessary because he had to sign things at work in this manner all the time.  The youth player looked at him and queried "Isn't THIS your job?"  VERY cool!!

I am very proud to have put this together because of how well it worked out and mostly because of how much fun the kids obviously had.  Just about every youth player and coach in attendance made it a point to stop and tell me thank you and I DO appreciate that, but I wanted to take a few minutes to thank YOU for coming down to watch us play!  Seeing how pumped the kids were in the stands, stomping their feet, cheering (for both clubs) and high-fiving players that went near the stands really justified all the hard work it took to put this event together.  Thank you to all the leagues that responded and worked with us!!

One more thing.  I spoke with the band boosters Saturday night after the game.  Lynn told me that the girl she had working the candy table (which is apparently a table set-up outside, near the concession stand), was VERY impressed about the children's behavior on Saturday.  She stated that during the high school games the kids are usually pushy and rude.  In contrast, however, she stated all our youth players and other kids in attendance were VERY polite at the concessions, they asked "Please.", and stated "Thank You" and waited their turn in line without disruption and without any problems!!

Coaches, I think this action speaks VOLUMES about the hard work we put in when we try to instill in our players things like discipline, respect, sportsmanship, etc.!  Please, make sure you tell your players how well they behaved!  Additionally, one of the contacts at PHS for this event was concerned that with so many kids at this event they'd be running up and down the grandstands, misbehaving in general and that the security would have their hands full.  Again, we showed that there was no cause for concern and to the best of my knowledge ALL behaved VERY well and needed no reminders on how to behave.

THANK YOU for that!!

We want to recognize the teams that made an appearance, even though one or two didn't want to take the field at halftime b/c they only had 2 or 3 players, we are glad you did!!  Our announcer discarded the sign-in sheets after the game, so I sincerely apologize if I miss your league or team on this list, I am going from memory and considering how freakin' tired I was at the end of the game (as if it wasn't obvious by my two "worm burner" shotgun snaps on our final winning drive and the completely botched snap on the final 2-pt conversion), so please bear with me.  If I did miss you, please contact me so I can update this list on the Buckeyes website (www.painesvillebuckeyes.com)

I am listing the "Freeway League" first because they had the greatest presence with Madison being the single biggest community showing followed closely by Painesville of the PYFL!!  Thank you!

Freeway Youth Football League
Madison
Jefferson
Perry
Ashtabula

Painesville Youth Football League
Painesville Upper
Painesville Lower (Special Thank you to the Painesville Buckeyes, lets have a great season guys (and girl)!!)

Great Lakes Youth Football League
Chardon
Eastlake

I also want to recognize Connie Bowler, CFC Director and John Dorko, A.D. at Perry High School for allowing us to host this game at "their house".  They were very easy to work with right from the start and they were very patient with me while I played liason between all the parties involved. Thank you to Jim Deming for operating the scoreboard and clock, great job!

Lastly, I'd like to send my thanks to the North Coast Vikings.  I know you guys are hungry right now, the hungriest and therefore most dangerous team in the LED!  Keep up the good work guys, you will be a contender in this league if you continue to step it up like you did Saturday!

Randy Brewster, Buckeyes Head Coach
Ohio Invaders O-line coach and O-lineman (#73) - Centered at Perry

Announcement:

The Ohio Invaders are a family-oriented semi-pro football team based out of Fairview Park, Ohio. Due to a scheduling conflict their game against the North Coast Vikings has been moved to Perry High School's Alumni Stadium for one night only!! Saturday, August 18th the Invaders will play host not only to the Vikings, but to hundreds of youth football players as we celebrate Youth Football Night!!

Youth football leagues from the surrounding areas have received invitations to attend this game including free admission to the youth players! Up to five coaches per team are also admitted free and parents of youth players also receive a reduced admission price of only $5 each!

Buckeyes head coach, Randy Brewster is also the offensive line coach for the Invaders and plays on the O-line as either guard or center (#73). Randy has put a lot of work into making this game happen because of his involvement in the Painesville Youth Football League as well as his participation with the Invaders.

Teams from Perry, Madison, Painesville, Geneva, Fairport Harbor, Jefferson, Kirtland, Eastlake, Chardon and MORE will be participating in Youth Football Night and teams will be called onto the field at halftime! What a great opportunity it will be for the kids!

Concessions will be open, thanks to the Perry band boosters and Invaders merchandise will also be available for sale! Please join us for this special night of semi-pro football as we pay tribute to the youth players and coaches in the youth community.

Who:  The Ohio Invaders host the North Coast Vikings
What:  Family-oriented minor league football
When:  Saturday, August 18th, 2007
Where:  Perry High School, Alumni Stadium
Time:  7:00 p.m. kickoff
Contact:  Randy Brewster   | 440.487.6595  |  coach*spam*@painesvillebuckeyes.com
Websites:  Invaders: http://eteamz.active.com/invadersfootball
Invaders GM, George O’Hammil: www.leaguelineup.com/invadersfb
Painesville Buckeyes:  http://www.painesvillebuckeyes.com

Thank you,

Painesville Buckeyes