The Chicopee Braves 8u football team got to scrimmage during halftime of the New England Patriots’ preseason opener.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
CHICOPEE — It is all young athletes’ dream to one day get the chance to play on a professional field in their respective sport. Luckily for many members of the Chicopee Braves 8u football team, they got the chance to live out that dream on Aug. 8.
The team was invited to scrimmage against the Dartmouth Indians at Gillette Stadium during halftime of the New England Patriots’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers.
Chicopee Braves 8u football Head Coach and President of the Association Antwaun Irvin talked about the experience for himself and his team.
“It was amazing. Just the way the kids were excited and the energy that they brought to the game. Even though we were only out there for 10 minutes, they were bringing it every play,” Irvin said.
The opportunity to scrimmage on the field occurred after the Central Connecticut League president contacted Irvin and invited he and his team to scrimmage during halftime.
Irvin said it was a no-brainer to accept the opportunity. “That’s not something you can turn down. We start on Aug. 1; we have to play on Aug. 8. You got seven days to get these kids ready for the biggest moment of their lives thus far. It was rough because we usually go through a month of conditioning, drills and then we start learning plays and things like that but we had to turn it up a notch and at least get them knowing four or five plays,” he added.
Every year the New England Patriots always give a couple teams the opportunity to scrimmage each other during halftime of their preseason home opener. They choose two 8u teams from the New England region and two 9u teams from the same region as well.
Besides the experience being awesome for Irvin, he said the kids all had a great time and can really learn a lot from this moment.
He said, “The biggest takeaway is just knowing that it’s possible. This is something that we didn’t even think was possible but now that we know it’s possible to be recognized. It shows them that it’s possible, that your dreams can be achieved. When they saw those players on the field and they’re in their uniforms as well, it shows they are ready for the moment. Going forward just playing on the big stage, taking in all that it came with, under the lights. If there’s ever a big moment again, they’re probably comfortable with it. Experience is the best teacher.”
Although Irvin is a Dallas Cowboys fan, he said the experience will make him tune into a few more Patriots games. He realized how cool this moment was for him and his team.
He added, “Some of us are never going to have this many people cheering for us again in life so it’s just one of those moments you just soak in and live in the moment. I still haven’t come down.”
This is the 49th year of the Chicopee Braves Association and it is one of the longest running Pop Warner teams in Western Massachusetts.
Irvin talked about how much this team has grown since he took over coaching a few years ago. The current team was 0-10 the season before he took over has now been turned around and went 8-2 and made it to the state championship the following season.
Now in his three years, he said they have been winning ever since and deserved this moment.
Irvin said a lot of people from the area do not come to the Chicopee Braves because of how much and how far they travel does not work with a lot of people’s schedules but since the scrimmage, 12 kids came to the field to sign up to play football.
“We play the tougher competition, and we get more exposure so that is what’s better for kids to play in these leagues to where they’re getting the most exposure, but it all comes down to what do you want for your kid,” Irvin said.
Irvin said the New England Patriots also gave the organization 200 tickets to the game so teammates, other teams, families and coaches could all enjoy the night.
“It was definitely a beautiful thing to hear Chicopee Braves over the loudspeaker in the stadium and then be on the actual field. Gillette Stadium has those new big screens that warp around the endzone and they’re huge so most of the fans are watching us play on there because it’s close up. It’s so exciting,” he concluded.
