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Two months ago, school officials in Bristol and New Britain were informed that the co-op football program, because of budgetary costs, was to disband.
"We really didn’t want to drop football. It was circumstances that forced it," St. Paul school president Craig Hill said. "But something good came out of adversity."
At an informational meeting to discuss options to save the grid program, an ad-hoc committee quickly formed.
The group had the task of trying to raise $35,000.
Much like this past season when the Falcons were able to move the chains up-and-down the field, the campaign to save football has proven to be a bonanza, be it candy sales, a carnival, contributions from alumni or donations from businesses in two communities.
"It’s really been a good experience for the schools," Hill says. "I think everyone is realistic about what the future will be here.
"Fund-raising will continue to be an on-going process, maybe not to the scale of this year, but there are plans in the works for next year," Hill said. "I think people at both schools understand how important fielding a team is (for attracting enrollment)."
Cefaratti has turned around a dormant program that has shown signs of competitiveness the last couple of years.
This past season, the Falcons docked in at 7-4 and wound up second in the Nutmeg Football League.
"We’re excited about the future here," Cefaratti says. "We have experienced linemen coming back and some experience too in the backfield."
As for games, the Falcons are somewhat scrambling to revive their schedule after Nutmeg rivals were given the green light to fill dates two months ago when word surfaced that SPGT had dropped football.
Berlin, for example, has hooked up with Norwich Free Academy. As for the others, "there’s some maneuvering going on," Cefaratti says. "Hopefully, we’ll be able to play 10 games.
Right now, the Falcons have seven scheduled games and six open dates -- Sept. 20, Oct. 18 and 25, Nov. 15, 22 and 27 -- that allows some flexibility.
