Head coach Neal Weidman greeted 63 players to his first practices on Monday and Tuesday. Let that number sink in for a minute. 63. Sixty Three.
For many of you that number may not mean much. But for those of us who have been following Lynnfield football for a while, that number is staggering. It tops the 56 that turned out last season and is clearly the largest number since at least the mid eighties.
For reference, I dug out the reporting numbers for the 23 years I've been covering the team.
From 1989 to 1994 the turnout ranged from 34 to 37. From 1995 to 2000 the range was 30 to 35. Here are the number since 2000.
2000- 35
2001 - 39
2002 - 32
2003 - 33
2004 - 50
2005 - 40
2006 - 49
2007 - 51
2008 - 45
2009 - 53
2010 - 56
2011 - 63
The program hit its nadir in terms of numbers in 1995 when 22 sophomores, juniors and seniors turned out for Scott Brennan's initial campaign. There were several games that year when the Pioneers suited up only 19 players and played only 12 including freshmen. Not surprisingly that hardy group struggled through a 2-8 season.
Using that as a barometer, the five dozen plus that came out this year is astounding.
The driving influence behind the numbers is clearly the rising school population and the continued growth and success of the town's youth football program. Another factor is the addition each year of seniors that come out to play for their last year. That tends to happen when the team wins, which it has done 19 times in 23 games over the past two seasons.
"We picked up a bunch of seniors this year," Weidman told me. Other than that there are no significant additions or subtractions for this season. "Pretty much everyone we thought would be here is here."
We talked about having to fill the holes created by the graduation of 15 seniors.
"We have a bunch of kids that have been waiting for their chance and they're going to get it now," Weidman said. "We ended up with a lot of seniors but some of them are new. There are only a small group of seniors that have been here as four year players. The bulk of our varsity players that have been here throughout are juniors."
The turnover will definitely give this year's Pioneers a different look.
"We're going to end up with a little different identity than we had last year, especially offensively," Weidman said. "Once we have our Masco scrimmage (this Saturday at 10 am in Boxford) and we sit down at our Sunday meeting, that's when we're really going to say 'alright, what is our identity? Who are we going to be this year?' We think we might know what direction we're going in but we won't know until we put the pads on and play someone else."
The Pioneers will be playing in a new league this year, the CAL/NEC Tier Four with North Reading, Ipswich, Hamilton-Wenham, Manchester-Essex and Georgetown. Weidman doesn't see much of a difference from the old CAL Small.
"The league is not totally different for us because all the teams are CAL teams," he said. "Manchester-Essex is CAL for the first year, but we played them last year. Obviously Newburyport and Amesbury are out but we have to give it a couple of years and see how it evolves."
"The only team that is smaller than us is Georgetown," the coach continued. "Manchester-Essex is smaller but when you add in Rockport, they are bigger. But they only get a few kids from there. North Reading, Hamilton-Wenham and Ipswich are bigger, so we're kind of right in the middle of the pack."
Masco will provide a good early test since the Chieftains are playing in the CAL/NEC Tier One league, which is Division 1A. The Pioneers are 3A so they will be stepping up four divisions in this one.
The Pioneers' next scrimmage will be the "Return of the Natives Bowl" against Triton on Wednesday, August 31. The Vikings are coached by former Pioneer captain and offensive coordinator Pat Sheehan. Another former Pioneer captain and assistant coach Mike Geary is on Sheehan's staff.
The scrimmage was scheduled for the Middle School Field, but the field is being reseeded so the game might be shifted to Triton. Game time for that one is 3:45.
Summer Reviews
The Pioneers played in number of a 7 v 7 passing games this summer and were coached by Pat Lamusta, former Pioneer captain currently playing for the Framingham State Rams.
"I loved it!" Pat said about his work with the team. "It was great experience, and a foot in the door for future opportunities. Also, the guys were great to work with and well-disciplined."
Some of Pat's observations:
"In general, there are many spots wide open making preseason a very exciting time for Pioneer country," Lamusta summed up.
Don't miss the action
I will be referring here often to my articles in the Villager so if you don't want to miss my game stories and photos now is the time to subscribe. Just click on the link at the left, fill out the form and mail it in. It's only $19 for the year and well worth it.
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Now that we are into the season, I will posting more frequently so check back often.
As always, your comments are welcome. Just send them to tcondardo@gmail.com.
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