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BY JOHN SNYDER
OF PASCACK PRESS
EMERSON, N.J.—Oh, it’s on, and it’s personal.
Saying most of the ladies have never played the game, and with their kids cheering them on for a change, the Emerson “Mamaliers” take on the Hillsdale Hawks in a charity flag football game for Helping Hand Food Pantry on Black Friday, Nov. 23 at 10 a.m. at Emerson Junior/Senior High School.
Come on out and bring your entry fee: a non-perishable food donation or toiletries donation.
According to Emerson player Karen Borenius—a meditation and mindfulness coach—players have kids ranging in age from preschool to high school to college.
She said “Some of us have played football, most have not, so we’re all new to this.”
Borenius got the idea for the Black Friday game—“It’s a good time to play flag football”—from her sister-in-law, who participates in a similar event, The Rivalry Series, in South Jersey, supporting a variety of causes.
Borenius reached out to Irene Hancock of Hillsdale to see if she could field an opposing team.
“I said, Yeah, I’ll put a team together,” Hancock told Pascack Press.
Because her daughter is a toddler and the family isn’t integrated into the school system yet, Hancock, who works full time in medical sales, filled out her roster through contacts at her gym and the Hillsdale moms’ softball team.
“It’s people that we know. I’m coercing people, saying, ‘You’re going to be playing flag football with me.’ They’re like, ‘OK.’ It’s the spirit of fun and giving back to the community that was the driver for most people,” she said.
Borenius said she put the word out on the Emerson moms board on Facebook and “100 people said they were interested.”
“There was no convincing at all. People want to play. Moms are usually the ones out there in the stands cheering, and I think this just sounds like a lot of fun, something they want to do,” she said.
She added that some of her teammates wanted to use the opportunity to get in better shape “or have something for themselves, and meet other people.”
Borenius explained her position: “I’m playing, I guess—what is it called, they told me on offense… I was the running back but then they gave it to someone else. I’m a safety on defense.”
In a cool reversal, two of the coaches are players’ kids.
“The kids will be cheering for the moms, which is different,” Borenius said.
She added, “We’ve been meeting and having practices, which is fun. We’ve watched football, but this is all new to us. We just want to have fun and get donations for Helping Hand.”
She said she can see the event catching on as a tradition but isn’t sweating that.
“Right now we’re just seeing where it goes,” she said.
Mamaliers, of course, is a play on Emerson’s own Cavaliers, and the Hawks are Hillsdale’s football and cheer team names.
Emerson has the deeper bench, 24 to 12. Rotations are planned at six or seven strong, and both sides have been practicing early on Sundays.
What with weather, the holidays, work schedules, and kids’ sports, the moms will not have had a scrimmage under their belts when they meet to play.
The players will pay to participate, and will receive T-shirts. Their donations, too, will go to Helping Hand.
Borenius and Hancock told Pascack Press they look forward to putting on a good game and having fun for a great cause.
Helping Hand serves Emerson, Hillsdale, Oradell, Montvale, Washington Township, Westwood, and Woodcliff Lake.
Needed items include cake and brownie mix, boxed potatoes, canned fruit and vegetables, apple sauce, condiments, hot cereal, pancake mix, syrup, flour, sugar, oil, coffee, boxed milk, canned meat, meat sauce, jelly and juice, Jell-O and pudding, cookies and crackers, personal care items, paper products, and supermarket gift cards.
For more information, visit helpinghandfoodpantry.com.
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