What might just look like a bunch of boys eating and laughing at a restaurant is so much more than that. It’s actually guys on the football team building an unbreakable bond making them as close as family.
I’ve been on the varsity football team for three years now, and it’s safe to say that this year the team is closer than ever. Everyone gets along and all of the players mesh well. There has been no fighting amongst teammates, which has been a problem in the past, but a team doesn’t just get close by playing in games together. They have to make an effort to be friends off the field, a process I believe is well worth it.
The football team obviously spends a lot of time together, beginning in the summer with 11 hour double sessions for three weeks right in the middle of the hottest time of the year. 11 hours of football can have its ups and downs, but it’s something we’re all dedicated to and only made our team closer.
The 11 hour day of football would consist of two practices that would last for about three hours each. This left a lot of spare time for other things in between. There was time given to eat and rest, which led to everyone on the team talking and having a good time with each other while we weren’t practicing. There were also days where we would do things like play cornhole in between practices.
“We ate together, we slept together, we laughed together, and as weird as it sounds, we showered together,” senior Matt Furlong said. “Everything we did during doubles we did as a team, and it all brought us together.”
After double sessions were over though, the team had to find new ways to bond and spend time together. A new habit emerged and become extremely important to the team. Since the start of the season, the football team has been going out to eat at Juliano’s Italian Pizzeria in town to eat a good meal together every Thursday night.
“Going to Julianos is great because after a hard week of practice, all of the guys can just hangout and eat,” senior Shane Maceachern said. “Everyone talking and telling stories about random stuff makes everyone else laugh and brings the team closer together.”
The restaurant has helped support the team by participating in fundraising prior to the season, and then when they noticed the team was making an effort to eat at their place, the restaurant agreed to give ugli sticks, their famous version of breadsticks, to anyone that ordered a meal of $15 or more. The team and restaurant hope to keep this custom alive for many seasons to come.
“It’s our football tradition,” senior Connor Dubois said, “and we look forward to going there every Thursday after practice. It brings us closer because we are always eating, talking, and trying to land crumpled up napkins in people’s drinks. We always have a great time.”
Coming into the season, seniors knew that the varsity team was going to be a mix off all the different grades with lots of underclassmen who’d be joining the group. Seniors didn’t expect to get so close with the underclassmen this year, but all the guys on the team have gotten to know each other and it has helped the chemistry of the team. Juliano’s has been at the center of this effort.
“It’s always fun to go to Juliano’s with the team because every time we seem to learn something new about everyone, and we have a lot of fun,” junior Brendan Bedell said.
Bedell, who’s known to his teammates by his nickname Beedle, is easily one of the biggest reasons the team is so close. Teammates agree he’s one of those kids that you always like because of his funny personality and the thing he’s known for, having the cutest smile on the team.
Even senior captain Jacob Dionne has recognized what Bedell has done for the team and is grateful for it.
“Beedle brought the team together by being that nice and friendly guy that everyone on the team can talk to and joke around with,” Dionne said. “He really had an overall great attitude all the time.”
Before the season started, the juniors had their close group of friends and the seniors had their close group of friends. Bedell was able to bridge the gap between those two friend groups. If there’s one thing that everyone on the team has in common, no matter what grade they’re in, it’s that we love Beedle.
Last week, after finishing with a 6-3 regular season record, the team spent Thursday and Friday night eating out at Juliano’s before their big playoff game against Salem. It was a great way to end the season, and the bond this year’s team made is definitely unbreakable.
