Supporting young football players and cheerleaders.

That’s the goal of Cornwall’s new ‘Champions Club’, a registered non-profit organization founded by parents of current young athletes. It’s a program with two missions, really – raising money to help purchase the necessary training and safety equipment for the league, while at the same time, involving the children who will benefit in not only that fundraising, but in giving back to the community that supports them.

Joseph DeBold, a D2 coach in the program, is the president of the new group, and one of the founders. “We simply raise money creatively and then 100 percent of the proceeds goes towards the kids in the programs for equipment enhancements, special clinics and even some positive community building such as our equipment swap we ran in the beginning of the season,” he said last week.

Started this past summer, there are 86 members of the Champions Club. There are 144 youth football players and 75 cheerleaders enrolled in the football/cheer program. “It’s been awesome, so positive,” he said. “It’s grown fast and furiously.”

“This club is rooted in community,” DeBold added. “It was born from the parents - there are so many parents with such great skillsets and so many community businesses and organizations with such care for these kids – we knew we could do more. I’ve been blown away by how much community support we’ve got. Community effort equals good things happening.”

So far, the Champions Club – which asks for a membership fee of $15 a year and is selling some ‘merch’ at football events to raise money – has held a youth clinic with varsity football team, and bought some equipment - a Jax tackler and soon a lineman chute, which cost thousands of dollars each - for the league.

They have also will host a pediatric cancer fundraiser on October 18.

If you haven’t seen or heard anything about the group until now, that’s okay, DeBold says. You will, as they step out into the community.

“For a few years now, I have wanted to find a way to give our young athletes an opportunity to learn the sense of community service,” he said. “On that note, we have teamed up with the Cornwall Cleanup Crew for a special collaboration event. On October 10, our youth football and cheer athletes will be doing a mega cleanup event, which will serve as a fundraiser for both organizations.”

He explained that the athletes have been asking people in their lives to be a supporter of theirs as they spend a day cleaning up various parts of Cornwall.

“Whatever money we raise will be split 50-50 with both organizations,” he said.

They’re trying to get as many players and parents to participate and will use the ‘divide and conquer’ method to clean places safe for young children and their parents. But note, this is more than just getting out there and making a good impression on the community.

“We want them to not only be of help, but also to take some time to think about how great it would be if no one littered,” he said. The day is a ‘one-off’ for members of the Clean Up Crew, since they usually pick up litter on Sundays. But since youth football games are played on Sundays, they’re doing the cleanup on a Saturday. DeBold said he’s had offers from local businesses of free lunches for all the participants after they clean up.
“This community just really supports it’s kids,” he said. “We want to give back to the community.”

Community service as it relates to athletes, and leadership in young people, are not a premise new to DeBold. In his role at Cornwall Central High School, he works with all of the school’s students, including athletes, on their community service projects, and with the Athletic Leadership Council, a student-run program which plans events like the annual Dragon Day. Someday, it seems likely, he’ll be working with today’s young football players and cheerleaders at that level.