People
were golfing and grilling Sunday to honor dad.
But not everyone has a dad in their life or even a good relationship
with their father. For one such group of
South Bend boys they still had some father figures to celebrate with. They played a game of flag football at Notre
Dame's Arlotta Stadium.
It
looked and sounded like a typical flag football game. But there's something different about
this game. The
red team is the crew saders. They are all
young men under the age of 18. The blue team is the Geritol Giants or
the fathers.
But they aren't father's to anyone on the grid iron. Deacon Mel Tardy of St. Augustine Church said, "that's
the beauty of it that some men would take some time out of father's day to come
out and play with some of the young men."
Deacon
Tardy works directly with the young men at St. Augustine Church so he knows not
all of them spend time with their own dad's on Father's day. "Some of them
don't always have the best relationship with their own fathers," said Tardy.
And
this flag football game on Father's day gives them some positive male bonding
time. "I
think it sends a message that there are people who care there are people who
will be there for them," said Tardy.
And
the young boys appreciate their time with the men. Crew Sader, Trajon
Wright, said, "they help us out a lot good leaders."
Even
if the game gets a little competitive at times it's all in good fun. And has a good message for all involved not
just the youth. Geritol Giant, John Borkowski said, "it sort of reminds us all that
adults and the youth it's important to stay connected."
And
while the young boys may not biologically belong to any of the men on the
football field the players say in a way they are all related. "Our church
family's important to all of us," said Borkowski. That family was watching as the boys and the
men threw the pigskin around just like any other father and son Sunday.
Another
cool fact about the game, it serves as a fundraiser for sickle cell. One of the players has the disease and had to
miss Sunday's game because he was in the hospital.
