BATTLE GROUND’s football team will hold a public scrimmage on Thurs., Aug. 29, 7 p.m. at District Stadium. The event will also serve as a fundraiser for the North County Community Food Bank. A host of Tigers’ tacklers are shown here stopping a Prairie ball carrier in a game last season. Photo by Mike Schultz.
The start of the high school football season in the state of Washington is quickly approaching and the Battle Ground Tigers will give their fans a sneak peak of the team while also asking for their help.
On Thurs., Aug. 29, the Tiger Football Booster Club will host the first annual Black/Orange Scrimmage & Food Drive at District Stadium. The event starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free and concessions will be available. Volunteers will collect donations of food and money for the North County Community Food Bank.
“Last season, we put on a kick-off party which was great and really got the whole community involved and excited about Battle Ground football,” said Abby Thompson, president of the Tiger Football Booster Club. “This year, we stepped it up and are going to give the fans a Tigers game and give back to the community at the same time.”
The scrimmage will consist of six, 12-minute running clock quarters of full game action. There will be two quarters alloted for each the varsity, junior varisty and the freshmen teams. Each team will be in full game uniforms and officials from the Evergreen Football Officials Association will be working the game, just as if it were a Friday night regular season game.
“Our fans will get a good look at the way we are doing things here at Battle Ground within our football program and grasp the excitement and positive energy that is reflected through our players.” said Larry Peck, who is entering his fourth year as head coach of the Tigers. “The scrimmage is a great way for us to work on schemes and skills with referees on the field and at game speed; it should be a great dress rehearsal for our upcoming season opener. It gives us a chance as coaches to evaluate our players as they compete under the stress of game situations and it gets them a chance to do it under the lights just like during the regular season.”
While Peck is excited about the scrimmage from the football standpoint, he is equally excited about the week-long food drive.
“Football is a huge community sport and to have the ability to help create a pathway to give back to those in need creates a sense of accomplishment and teamwork with the community as a whole,” added Peck. “Our players are getting great support and giving back becomes a very good lesson for the overall life experience. These are the kinds of values the game of football teaches every day to all who play it.
“It is more than playing a sport; it is taking care of people,’’ Peck said. “Life lessons are learned everyday on the football field all across America. It is one of the things that makes this such a great game.”
As everyone knows, times are tough for a lot of people in North County. The North County Community Food Bank (NCCFB) has seen the enrollment numbers rise over the past year, and they don’t anticipate those numbers getting any lower over the next year.
“Tiger Football Booster Club’s Black/Orange Scrimmage and Food Drive benefitting the NCCFB is a perfect pairing,” says Elizabeth Cerveny, North County Community Food Bank’s executive director. “The Tiger Football Booster Club is proactively spreading community awareness and educating others on the importance of helping those in need all year long. It takes each of us coming together in a united fashion to create a healthier North County and the club’s efforts does just that.
“Tiger Football season unites family, friends and neighbors, gathering together to support their children and team, while also supporting their community in this event,’’ Cerveny said. “Frequently while attending these common-place activities, we take for granted that so many of our neighbors and friends are struggling to care for their families.”
The start of the school year means football season is here to many people, but for far too many it also means colder weather and another “season” of not knowing where their next meal will come from.
“With the onset of late summer and early fall, temperatures will begin to drop and our clients’ food needs will become critical to their overall health through the winter months,” added Cerveny. “Providing these individuals with basic food supplies is the mission of the NCCFB. Insuring our senior citizens, single mothers, homeless and children have a warm meal is what we are all about.”
During the event, the Tigers coaching staff will be preaching to their players the importance of doing the little things, stressing that when you add up all of those little things, you end up with something great. That’s the message Abby Thompson and the boosters want to get across to those donating food as well.
“It’s easy to think about hunger in our community and think to yourself, ‘well, I’m only one person, how can I really help?,’” said Thompson. “That’s the cool thing. In football when the whole team comes together and all chips in, great things can happen. Well, when our whole community comes together and all donates, even a few items, it all adds up to making a big difference.”
Cerveny agrees that even a little from a lot of people will go a long way, stating that, “Every item that is donated matters significantly.”
People who donate 15-or-more items (with a retail value of greater than $15) at the scrimmage Thursday will receive a free Tigers Football T-shirt as thanks for their help. There will be donation bins at District Stadium Thursday during the scrimmage as well as at each Tigers football practice from 3-5 p.m. throughout the week. The food drive will conclude at Battle Ground’s season opener versus R.A. Long, Fri., Sept. 6, 7 p.m., also at District Stadium.
“We’ve come a long way as a program over the past three years,” said Peck, speaking of the team’s 1-8 finish in his first year, through last season’s winning campaign, which was the program’s first in nearly a decade. “We are excited to establish this new tradition where the program and surrounding community can come together for such a good cause.”
For more information on the Black/Orange Scrimmage & Food Drive, or for information in general about Battle Ground Football, visit http://tigerfootballboosterclub.org.
