Agganis Classic, LAA Road Race, more...

It's already July which means preseason practices start next month, but before we get there, let's touch on some important summer events.

Cohee, Roberto in the Agganis Classic
Graduating Pioneer captains A. J. Roberto and Gino Cohee will represent Lynnfield football on July 14 at 7 pm in the Agganis Football Classic. This is the 50th playing of the annual event and the two Pioneer standouts will suit up for the North squad when they cap off their high school careers at Manning Field in Lynn.

LAA Road Race
The 44th Annual LAA Fourth of July 5K road race will be held on this Monday and I encourage all of you to come out and support Lynnfield's football players and all other Pioneer athletes by participating. The race leaves Town Hall at 9 am. Registration begins at 7:30 am and it's $20 for 16 and under and $25 for 17 and older. Thirty-eight awards will be given out for men and women in age groups from 10 and under to 70 and over.

It's only 3.1 miles and it's nice flat course (ok maybe just one little hill going up Thomas Road). Hey even I'm running it again so I expect to have a lot of company out there. For more information click on the LAA Road Race link.

New Georgetown Coach Channels Pioneers
There's a new man in charge in Georgetown and according to his initial comments, the Pioneers should expect a familiar look from their CAL/NEC Tier 4 rivals.

Paul Sobolewski takes over the reins from Matt Bouchard who resigned in March after five seasons coaching the Royals. The new head coach was asked by reporter Joshua Boyd of the Georgetown Record about his offensive philosophy and he replied that "We have a spread offense philosophy. We like to throw the ball. What the defense tries to do against us is what dictates what we do"

Sobolewski went on to say that "It’ll take kids a little time to learn our offense, but it looks more complicated than it is. There are a lot of formations, but the same plays out of every formation. It’s sort of similar to what Lynnfield does."

According to the Record's article, Sobolewski plans on interviewing Bouchard's assistant coaches to discuss their joining his staff. Former Pioneer captain Billy Adams, son of LHS co-AD and former head football coach Bill Adams, was an assistant at Georgetown last fall.

The new Royals' coach lives in Revere and comes to Georgetown from Division 2 Winchester of the Middlesex League where Sobolewski guided the Sachems to a 30-25 record over five seasons. He resigned following last season because of what he called "a brick wall" between him and the middle school program, according to Boyd's story. Click here to read Boyd's complete article.

Pioneers' Summer Schedule
Once again this summer, the Pioneers will be tuning up for the season by participating in a 7 on 7 passing league. This is a great opportunity for the offensive players to work on sets, route running and near game like activity in preparation for the real thing. It also give the pass defense a good look at defending the spread offenses they will see in the regular season.

The Pioneers will be playing in the Reading League and their first two contests will be on Sunday, July 10th. All games will be played at Reading High School. The full schedule is as follows:

- July 10th, 9 am vs Reading
- July 10th, 10 am vs. Peabody
- July 17th, 9 am vs. Swampscott
- July 17th, 10 am vs Reading
- August 7th, 9 am vs Reading
- August 7th, 10 am vs. Methuen

In addition, the Pioneers will be participating in a 7 on 7 tournament at Bishop Fenwick on July 23rd beginning at 8:30 am.

That's it for now. Check back on August 5th when we'll be only weeks away from the start of the season. Have a great Fourth of July Weekend.