Story by Adam Bosch - photo by Mike Rice, courtesy the Times-Herald Record

October 28, 2007

(to News Index)

Monticello — The pomp and excitement of high school football is rising as many local teams battle for a shot at the state title. But here in Sullivan County, pigskin fever exists in a place you might not expect — a school district that has not fielded a football team since 1935.

A movement to revive football in the Monticello School District is building momentum. Dressed in their youth league jerseys, about 75 parents and young football players this month attended the school board meeting, where athletic director Doug Murphy pitched football to board members. Superintendent Patrick Michel introduced Murphy.

"Mr. Murphy, our athletic director, felt our athletic program was missing an essential element. That element was football." The crowd of football supporters cheered. Then Murphy, a former high school football player and coach, presented the plan.

FOOTBALL WOULD BE PHASED IN over four years. By nixing increases from his supply budget, working with donated equipment and depending on monetary contributions, Murphy believes he can limit the impact on the school budget to roughly $20,000 a year.

"We can trim the athletic budget but stay comparable to other schools our size," Murphy said. "It won't be a budget-buster."

Still, questions linger. Before making a decision, the Board of Education wants a more precise layout of the costs, and assurance that adding football won't detract from other sports.

"I think we need to do some more homework on this," board President Robert Stewart said at the meeting.

By a 3-1 ratio, voters defeated a similar but more extravagant proposal in 1996. That proposal would have added about $67,000 annually to the budget, and included such amenities as new locker rooms.

A state law passed in 1997 changed how schools add programs. Now football would depend on a vote of the school board, not referendum. Because of that, Michel said, the board wants to proceed carefully.

"Our worry is that the school budget will now become the football referendum," Michel said.

MONTICELLO HAS NOT FIELDED a high school football team since 1935. The team was abolished because it regularly got whooped. In its last season, Monticello was outscored 125-13. School administration decided to lose football and put the money toward more successful sports.

More than 70 years later, Michel and football parents see a considerable upside to resurrecting the sport. Football, they said, is more than what's on the field. It would create opportunities for cheerleaders, the audio-video club, booster clubs, a pep band and homecoming activities that now don't exist in Monticello, like the pep rally, dance or bonfire. It would also boost community spirit, proponents said.

"The spin-off from football would be unbelievable," Michel said. "Football is a community experience and a community builder."

PARENTS BELIEVE football would provide direction and purpose for their kids, who live in a community where drugs, gangs and mischief are common. They've already seen results in the Monticello Area Football and Cheerleading Organization, a recreation league started three years ago by a group of parents.

"There are kids, for example, that didn't get along," said treasurer Donna Reese. "But on the football field they had to get along and it brought a lot of them together."

Camaraderie, college scholarships and life lessons — they're what parents believe football would provide for their children in their high school years.

"In football the kids rely on each other so much," said Scott Dorn, a MAFCO coach and social worker in the Monticello School District. "It teaches kids about responsibility and being a team player better than most social work tools I have."

They might not have a high school team battling for the section or state title this year, but Monticello kids are abuzz with the mere prospect of football.

"Everywhere I go I get stopped by kids," said MAFCO President Ceasar Dones. "It's like they already know football is coming to the school; it's just a matter of when. That's the expectation."

Photo captions:
The past: The last Monticello High School football team, pictured in the 1936 high school yearbook.

The future? These young men from the Monticello Area Football and Cheerleading Organization, a recreation league started three years ago by a group of parents, are hoping that by the time they get to high school, they will be able to play on their school team.