thedrifter
12-02-08, 07:43 AM
Tossing the pigskin for vets, disabled athletes
The Buddy Bowl hosts civilian and military teams for flag football.
By ADAM TOWNSEND
The Orange County Register
CAMP PENDLETON – Samuel Nehemiah strode to the front of the stage at the Camp Pendleton football fields Saturday morning with the help of a glinting aluminum crutch. As he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a sonorous baritone to kick off the Buddy Bowl charity football games, a leg shriveled by childhood polio couldn't diminish the Nigerian's imposing form.
The El Cajon resident competed internationally in wheelchair racing and basketball. He was one of almost 300 athletes – professional and amateur, civilian and military, able and disabled – who gathered at the Marine base football fields, near Oceanside, to raise money for Buddy Bowl, a three-decade tradition.
"The last time I played was 2000-2001," said Marine Staff Sgt. Matt Jacobs of Laguna Niguel. "I like the camaraderie – I've seen a lot of people here I haven't seen since the last time I played"
Jacobs, who plays receiver and quarterback, helped organize this year's O.C. Giants, the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps team. He said he enjoyed the football and the opportunity to help his wounded fellow Marines and their families
"It's great to see them out here playing, too," he said.
As the sun burned off the early morning chill, former Navy SEAL and wheelchair athlete Al Kovach sat in the gym adjacent to the fields. Kovach watched the clash as wheelchair athletes drilled before their football game. Even just warming up, the clatter of pads and aluminum chair frames was fierce.
These men were former Marine reconnaissance elites, current world-class athletes or both. They handled themselves with force.
Kovach, who is board president of the San Diego Adaptive Sports Foundation, said a major goal of both his organization and the Challenged Athletes Foundation was to support injured vets in their path to recovery. The money from Buddy Bowl is distributed to both organizations and others.
"Sports is a way of creating some kind of quality of life for these guys." Kovach said. "These guys are Marines or Navy SEALS – they'd be going out of their heads sitting in front of the Nintendo all day."
Kovach, a veteran of Desert Storm who was injured in a parachute accident, was once a triathlete. After he was injured and in a wheelchair, Kovach entered a grueling 65-day land and water race from New York to Los Angeles, where he had to learn to swim without the use of his legs.
Surgeries after from that monumental task have kept him out of sports, but he's active in the realm of advocacy and fundraising.
Nico and Lisa Marcolongo, who have been organizing the Buddy Bowl tournament for years, started off raising money for victims of a helicopter crash involving Nico's Marine unit in 1999. That year, the couple passed around a coffee can and made $500. In 2007, the charity's proceeds totaled $86,000. To date for 2008, Buddy Bowl has raised $57,000, excluding the proceeds from Saturday's event.
Nico retired from the Marines in February, after 14 years in the service, but said he plans to keep devoting his time to helping wounded veterans and disabled athletes.
"Now, I serve in a different way," he said.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3706 or atownsend@ocregister.com
Ellie
The Buddy Bowl hosts civilian and military teams for flag football.
By ADAM TOWNSEND
The Orange County Register
CAMP PENDLETON – Samuel Nehemiah strode to the front of the stage at the Camp Pendleton football fields Saturday morning with the help of a glinting aluminum crutch. As he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a sonorous baritone to kick off the Buddy Bowl charity football games, a leg shriveled by childhood polio couldn't diminish the Nigerian's imposing form.
The El Cajon resident competed internationally in wheelchair racing and basketball. He was one of almost 300 athletes – professional and amateur, civilian and military, able and disabled – who gathered at the Marine base football fields, near Oceanside, to raise money for Buddy Bowl, a three-decade tradition.
"The last time I played was 2000-2001," said Marine Staff Sgt. Matt Jacobs of Laguna Niguel. "I like the camaraderie – I've seen a lot of people here I haven't seen since the last time I played"
Jacobs, who plays receiver and quarterback, helped organize this year's O.C. Giants, the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps team. He said he enjoyed the football and the opportunity to help his wounded fellow Marines and their families
"It's great to see them out here playing, too," he said.
As the sun burned off the early morning chill, former Navy SEAL and wheelchair athlete Al Kovach sat in the gym adjacent to the fields. Kovach watched the clash as wheelchair athletes drilled before their football game. Even just warming up, the clatter of pads and aluminum chair frames was fierce.
These men were former Marine reconnaissance elites, current world-class athletes or both. They handled themselves with force.
Kovach, who is board president of the San Diego Adaptive Sports Foundation, said a major goal of both his organization and the Challenged Athletes Foundation was to support injured vets in their path to recovery. The money from Buddy Bowl is distributed to both organizations and others.
"Sports is a way of creating some kind of quality of life for these guys." Kovach said. "These guys are Marines or Navy SEALS – they'd be going out of their heads sitting in front of the Nintendo all day."
Kovach, a veteran of Desert Storm who was injured in a parachute accident, was once a triathlete. After he was injured and in a wheelchair, Kovach entered a grueling 65-day land and water race from New York to Los Angeles, where he had to learn to swim without the use of his legs.
Surgeries after from that monumental task have kept him out of sports, but he's active in the realm of advocacy and fundraising.
Nico and Lisa Marcolongo, who have been organizing the Buddy Bowl tournament for years, started off raising money for victims of a helicopter crash involving Nico's Marine unit in 1999. That year, the couple passed around a coffee can and made $500. In 2007, the charity's proceeds totaled $86,000. To date for 2008, Buddy Bowl has raised $57,000, excluding the proceeds from Saturday's event.
Nico retired from the Marines in February, after 14 years in the service, but said he plans to keep devoting his time to helping wounded veterans and disabled athletes.
"Now, I serve in a different way," he said.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3706 or atownsend@ocregister.com
Ellie