Section II football coaches are a fraternity. Even when they leave the house, they reunite with the current members to have fun.
That was the theme at Monday’s Capital District Football Coaches Golf Tournament at Ravena’s Sycamore Country Club. Dozens of current and former Section II coaches gathered for a day of golf to raise money for membership in the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
The thing I like most is getting out and seeing people, said Voorheesville coach Joe Sapienza. `It’s always nice to see people you used to coach against and catch up with them.`
`It’s a great time for friends,` added former Fonda-Fultonville coach Alex Mancini. `There’s never a bad day on a golf course.`
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s Bill Martin is better known as a boys basketball coach, but his career as the school’s freshman football coach makes him a part of the fraternity.
`I know quite a few (football coaches), actually,` said Martin, who was participating for the second year in a row. `It’s a good time. It’s always fun to get together in the middle of the summer.`
The annual tournament is organized by Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk coach and Section II coordinator Gary VanDerzee.
`It’s strictly a fundraiser to benefit other organizations,` said VanDerzee. `Last year, we donated $1,000 to Mechanicville High School (to help fund their team when the district cut sports from its budget). We also use the money for trophies at Sectional and regional games and other things.`
At the same time, the tournament allows coaches to gather what information they can about each others’ teams.
`Football is starting next week (with practices), so discussions are already going on about who’s going to be tough, the camps their players went to and how their teams are looking,` said Sapienza.
Naturally, the coaches don’t give too much information away. `You talk it over, but you never know until you see who comes out Monday (for the first day of practice),` said VanDerzee.
`I think at this point, most of the people here are experienced coaches. They work together at the camps,` said Sapienza. `So, they’re pretty forthright about what they’ve got.`
Not that the coaches spend a lot of time talking football. They kidded each other about the shots they made and bantered about how their four-man teams were doing. Among the teams the other golfers kept their eyes on was defending champion Cambridge captained by former varsity coach Ken Baker and a quartet of high school football officials that were trying to win the tournament for the third time in eight years.
`None of the coaches were particularly happy when the officials won three years ago,` said football official team member Ron Wotherspoon, a former Scotia resident now living in Lake George.
Baker’s Cambridge team has dominated when the officials haven’t won. VanDerzee estimates that Baker’s group has won four or five of the eight previous tournaments.
`He and the Cambridge guys are pretty good golfers,` said VanDerzee.
VanDerzee and his R-C-S teammates hoped to end Baker’s reign, but things didn’t go well for them over the first nine holes. By the turn, VanDerzee’s team had shot a 2-under par 34, which put them in the hunt but not in the lead, even though they were on their home turf.
`We haven’t taken advantage of the course knowledge,` said VanDerzee.
The tournament isn’t about winning or losing, though. It’s about having fun and hanging out with friends old and new.
`It’s a fun time to come out and relax before the season starts,` said VanDerzee.“