Dion Bryant runs the ball during a game last season.
Ewing Jr. Blue Devils Football and Cheer to host free camps July 22-26.
When the Blue and White Football League started in 1968, it only had two teams: the heavyweight team and the lightweight team. Now, 45 years later, the Ewing Jr. Blue Devils Football and Cheer has expanded to six teams, over 150 players, and a cheerleading squad.
Tim McRae, the current vice president, has been a part of the league since he played as a youth. His son played in the league as well.
“To me, there’s a deeper sense of involvement,” he said. “I love the kids. They need something to do. Not only are we coaches, but we’re mentors. We teach them more than just football. We share ideas with them, we talk to them about health and fitness and different things. To me, it’s just keeping the kids invovled in the community and making them about sports statistics instead of crime statistics.”
The league has changed a lot, even in the last few years. Last season was its first on its own field at Moody Park, complete with goalposts. This upcoming season will be the first played with a scoreboard, thanks to a donation from V.F.W. Post 7298.
“There’s a lot of traffic that rides up and down that street,” President Davon Veal said. “You can see the kids playing football, so that helped a lot. Being able to have a field that we can call our own, that’s a testament to the type of support that we see from the township, the rec board, and people who want us to be successful and who want these children to be successful.”
McRae said they couldn’t have gotten this far without the support of the community and township figures like Mayor Bert Steinmann, business administrator James McManimon, Jack Ball, Don Cox, and Councilman Kevin Baxter, as well as the parks and recreation department. Still, though, the EJBD wants to take it one step further. The league is reaching out to local businesses and sponsors in hopes of acquiring a fieldhouse.
The league has been using the same trailers for year-round equipment storage since 1968. The metal trailers heat up quickly during the summer and grow mold at an even faster rate due to the lack of ventilation.
“It’s a two-story, pre-fabricated fieldhouse,” McRae said. “We only need to provide a concrete slab for the foundation. To get out of this trailer is a health issue. We sanitize and clean the equipment every year, but that’s something we want to cut out of our budget. If we had a ventilated facility to store our equipment, we wouldn’t have to worry about mold.”
In the meantime, though, the EJBD is focusing on football and cheer preparations for the 2013 season. Cheer commissioner Jennifer Vacca is in her first year with the team. The Ewing High graduate has been coaching for nearly 20 years and recently moved back home from Florida.
“I wanted to get more involved in the community,” she said. “I figured this was where I needed to be. I want to help build this cheer program and make it a success.”
Both sects of the league are working together with the high school programs to host free camps July 22 through July 26.
“It’s a great way to see if your kid is going to be really into it,” secretary Patricia Byron said. “When my sons first started in the league, one really loved it, the other, not so much. That wasn’t money that I put out for him to not want to do it. They both play now, and they both love it, but it’s a good thing for parents just to see if their kids are really interested.”
The high school will host both camps. Blue Devils cheerleading and football staff and players will all be present. Player agent Keith Williams said it’s a clinic for coaches, too.
“It’s a tool for us as well as the kids,” he said. “We’ve all played football, but let’s be honest. We don’t know it all. We didn’t invent the game. We still need to be a little bit sharper in the things that we do in the way that we teach this game because it is a contact sport. It can be a dangerous sport if it’s not taught properly.”
The league is also hosting a meet and greet pool party at Hollowbrook Center on July 13 from noon to 4 p.m. Cost is $2 for players, past and present, and $5 for adults.
“We want to get the parents out,” McRae said. “It’s great to talk to the kids, but we need to be able to reach some of the parents, too. Forget football. Let’s have some fun, let’s jump in the water, let’s eat some food, and let’s get to know each other. That’s what community’s about, right?”
For more information, visit ewingjrbluedevils.teamopolis.com.
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