Blue Devil Football Bonds
at Dave & Busters
The Huntington football coaches try hard to create a family-type atmosphere around the high school program. In recent years players have attended various social events together, from bowling to a Thanksgiving-related feast, designed to encourage camaraderie and friendship.
A September get-together helped this year's squad bond as one unit. As he has done before, Gregg Corbly, a district parent who is the general manager of Dave & Buster's in Farmingdale, invited the Blue Devils to the restaurant for an evening of food and fun.
Two buses transported varsity and JV players down Route 110. When the teenagers disembarked and entered the facility the first thing they did was head to the bowling lanes. "That was a lot of fun," said Ron Wilson, a member of the coaching staff. "It was nice seeing the kids enjoy themselves. They always have a ball during this part of the event. They are wild!"
Seniors Peter Kingston, Calvin Bollar and Will Coffey battled it out on the lanes, rolling one strike after another. Then Wilson was "called out" by the teenagers. But, he knew better than to take them on without fellow coach Todd Jamison, his usual partner who was unable to attend the event.
After the team had its fill of bowling, it was time to eat. The Blue Devils were served a variety of foods and beverages. "We all intermingled," Wilson said. "Coaches sat and ate with players and the varsity dined with the JV. It was nice to see! Then when we thought it couldn't get any better, it did! Mr. Corbly graciously gave a player's card to each player and coach to enjoy the arcade games."
The Huntington football family proceeded to have a blast. "There was this one game; some type of racing cars game that you were able to play up to eight players," Wilson said. "We all had a ton of fun on this one. We had so much fun that we played the game more than once." Coach Joe Poller walked away with the most wins. Wilson won once and freshman Nick Arleo captured another.
"One of the last games we played as a cohesive group was the horse racing game," recalled Wilson. "We spent a lot of time at this game, as well. We each got opportunities to make and breed our own horse. After training the horse, we raced each other on this huge screen for all to watch. The excitement exhibited by the team and coaches caught everyone's attention." Coach Jim McCabe and junior running back Trayvon Toney fared particularly well in the game.
Another popular game saw head coach Steve Muller and senior receiver Ryan Mulligan enjoyed "hunting" in the "safari." The teenagers – and coaches, too, were like little kids in the arcade area.
When it was time for the evening to come to a close, both coaches and athletes agreed it had been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Wilson said it was "another great team building activity where we had a chance to enjoy one another's company away from the field."