Here's to the People Behind the Games

I’ve spent most of my adult life either watching or covering sports – high school, college, recreational and professional – for several newspapers and websites in the New York area, and am always amazed at how many people, aside from the players and coaches, surround the games doing so many important chores.

Just this past week, at football games and volleyball matches in Irvington, Ossining and Tuckahoe, I was often distracted from the games themselves by the activities of dozens of people who often don’t have time to watch the game because they are otherwise occupied doing jobs that help keep the games going.

There are the officials, timekeepers, stat keepers, refreshment stand workers, sideline marker holders (football), marching bands, field attendants, school custodians, game announcers and even DJs, who fill the timeouts and halftimes with music, sometimes too loud, sometimes not my genre, but always present.

The Ossining High Football Club, parents and volunteers, erect tents, fire up the barbecue, display T-shirts, caps and souvenirs and sell everything from raffle tickets to cheeseburgers to support the Pride players that are busy playing on the field just a few yards away. When the crowd roars, the volunteers crane their necks to see “who scored, what happened?”, then go back to work.

The Tuckahoe and Kennedy Catholic cheerleaders, poised a half field apart in front of their fans in the bleachers, chant, jump, cajole and cheer their teams, often with their backs to the field so they can lead the fans face-to-face, jumping and cheering while smiling. On this day, the Tuckahoe cheerleaders had much to cheer about in a 48-14 victory.

But the Kennedy cheerleaders, watching an early lead fade into a loss, never faded, and kept on cheering.

And there are the water boys and girls, toting bottles of precious liquid to dehydrating players, team trainers easing muscle cramps and icing bruises and sprains, attending doctors who hope they won’t be needed, local EMTs in their trucks just in case, and teachers and administrators chaperoning everyone.

And of course, there are the fans. They don’t have a specific task to perform, but they line the fields, fill the bleachers, yell and scream encouragement and even offer an occasional suggestion to officials who may have missed a call.

So, here’s to all the people who surround the games and do the jobs that keep the players playing. We apologize if we’ve missed anyone, but that’s part of the job of volunteering, going unnoticed while the games are going on.

 

 

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