SHS Football in Good Hands

6/14/08 by Tom Renner, Stamford Advocate

Fund-raising for sports teams can be difficult in any time period, but particularly when gas is approaching $5 per gallon and families are facing foreclosures at unprecedented rates.

The Grid Iron Club at Stamford High School, which raises funds to support the Black Knights' football team, is taking a new tact in its bid for donations.

Beginning last month, the club has reached out to corporations to help cover expenses. Two groups, the Steve A. and Alexandra M. Cohen Foundation and the International Automobile Association have contributed to the club, which has in previous years received a contribution from the Lorenti Foundation.

"We've never reached out to corporate people before,'' said JoAnn Genovese, who along with Grace Mandarino and Diane Vitti head up the Grid Iron Club this year. "In the past, with all the things we've had to do, we've been scrabling at the end of the year to to pay for the coaches. Sometimes we can't get what the coach needs."

"We always need money,'' Stamford coach Kevin Jones said. "The problem you have is,especially in Stamford, everything costs money. We live year to year and pray that we have enough parents to pull this off every year. The banquets, the programs, everything you do costs a ton of dough. When you have 60, 70 or 100 kids on the team, you can't do a bake sale and say you're all going to get t-shirts. We want our kids to have the nicest things. All of that costs money."

The money raised by the Grid Iron Club assists the team in a variety of ways. It pays for scholarships for players who are unable to meet fees players incur. It also provides a pasta dinner each Thursday before the game, and pays for coaches on Jones' staff who are not paid out of the school budget. They also purchase equipment for Jones that he feels will help the team's training.

Genovese said the club needs to raise nearly $15,000 to meet this year's expenses. The pre-game dinners alone cost $5,000.

"We need to make money,'' Jones said. "The only way to do that is to go out and beg. With expenses the way they are today for families, it's difficult to do. It's twice as hard this year as it was last year, simply because people don't have it."

Genovese's son, Anthony, will be a tight end for the Knights in the fall, while Michael Mandarino and Zack Vitti will be players on the offensive line. They will join other team members in seeking donations and working fund-raisers - bake sales, car washes, selling discount cards - to help the team.

The ironic twist is that three mothers have been entrusted to find the means to support the team.

"We've gone in cycles from the football moms to the football dads and now back to the football moms,'' Jones said. "But every group I've had at Stamford High will do whatever it takesto be successful. Our parents have always come through. The bottom line is we have a worthy cause here, there are over 100 kids in the program and we want to do whatever we can to make it a positive experience."

NOTES: Stamford will plays its annual Black and Orange game Saturday at10 a.m. . . . People who wish to support the Grid Iron Club can contact Genovese at 890-2914 or 667-2468 or Mandarino at 595-3058 or 554-8352.