Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Are you ready for some football, Kosciusko County?
Gerric Walker and Owen Sommers are, so they decided to do something about it.
Walker lives in North Webster, and Sommers manages Royal Motors in Syracuse. Walker played for Shelbyville's semipro football team last year but wanted to play on a team closer to home.
In August 1997 the two looked into starting a semipro football team in Kosciusko County.
Nine months later, they believe it will happen.
They have a team name, the Kosciusko Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are one of seven teams out of Indiana and Ohio in the Federal Football League.
They have a home field, Edgewood Middle School.
About the only thing left are players. They need 30. They have 25 now. Sommers considers 18 of the 25 truly committed.
Anderson, Delaware County, Indianapolis, Morgan County, Preble County (Ohio) and Shelbyville join Kosciusko County in the league.
"I didn't realize it until a year ago, but there are semipro leagues all over the country," the 29-year-old Sommers says.
The season starts July 14, and games will be played every Saturday. After a 14-game regular season, the league holds single-elimination playoffs. Every team makes it into the postseason. The championship game will be held Oct. 17 at the home field of the team with the best record.
To get ready for the season, the Grizzlies have been holding three practices a week since March, although now they're dropping down to two.
The FFL uses the same rules as the NFL. Same size of field and referees. The Grizzlies hope to have a coach. The one they had dropped out because of health problems.
Who are these players, and why do they do it?
Most of the players on Kosciusko's team are in their mid-20s. They played football at high schools like Bremen, East Noble and Wawasee. One player is even 40.
"It's a bunch of guys who love the sport and never outgrew it," Sommers says. "Take Cory Hundt. He was an awesome ballplayer. Once he got out of high school, he didn't get to play anymore."
If the Kosciusko Grizzlies have a star, it is the 20-year-old Hundt. Hundt played running back for Bremen in the mid-1990s. He also started at running back for the North team in the Indiana All-Star Classic.
Still, these are no players who hold even a glimmer of hope of playing professionally. The FFL is not what the minor leagues are to baseball.
It's not a feeder system.
"It's not a ticket to the pros," Sommers says. "For the extremely talented, it's a way for them to get noticed by the pro teams. It is a way to rack up some stats and put some game film together.
"I talked to the commissioner (Kevin Johnson) the other night. He said if you have a superstar on the team, he will be found by the pros - the Canadian Football League, the Arena Football League, the World League and the NFL.
"Word gets out if you have a guy tearing up the field."
The Grizzlies have cleared what Sommers calls their biggest obstacle, finding a home field.
Now all that's left to do is find the money. Equipment, uniforms and league fees run $450 to $500 for each player.
That money comes out of each player's pocket since the Grizzlies don't have sponsors. (Sommers tells you they are always looking for sponsors). This is where Sommers and Walker weed out those who are not devoted.
"Some guys say they want to do this, but some guys don't want to put the time in and don't want to be at the fund raisers," Sommers says.
To help with costs now, the Grizzlies hold fund raisers. One of those road signs with the arrow pointing at the top sits in front of Royal Motors. The Grizzlies announce their fund raisers on this sign. Last Saturday, they held a car wash from 2-5 p.m.
Sommers estimates 80 percent of these start-up teams don't make it. He asks only one thing: that the Grizzlies survive the first year.
If they do that, he all but guarantees the team will be around for a while.
"Once we get past the first year," Sommers says, "we won't let it drop. The first year is the toughest. Our goal is to draw enough revenue so we can all play and not have to fork out any of our own money."
Rare are the teams in leagues like the FFL that pay their players. In a perfect world, not only will the Grizzlies make it, but they will pave the way for a separate northern division. That's what Sommers hopes for, anyway, a six- or seven-team division in each the north and south. Then a statewide "Super Bowl" could be played.
The league has its Cory Hundts, but it also has guys like Owen Sommers.
Sommers grew up in Meadville, Pa., in the northwest corner of the state. His parents never let him play football.
Now Sommers, who ended up here by attending Goshen College, can. He will be a middle linebacker.
"For me, to actually be on an organized football team is a dream come true," he says.
