S.F.T.C. 2007 Old News

To read more about the Night at the Races and the details thus far click here.

At the November meeting nomination tallies and elections were held for the new 2008 Board of Directors for the S.F. Touchdown Club. The following are your new Club Officers:

Congratulations to all and may you have continued success under your guidance and leadership.

The 2007 Annual High School Banquet is scheduled for December 16th beginning at 4:00 p.m. with dinner being served at 5:30 p.m. Invitation with RSVP requests have been mailed so please return your RSVP card as soon as possible. This year the banquet will be held at the Airport Marriott located at 777 Aten Road, Coraopolis, PA 15178.

If you need further information please contact Tracey Valko at tvalko@comcast.net

Drew Hareza, #44 was recently written up in the Bridgeville News regarding his kicking successes leading the WPIAL in field goals thus far this season. Congratulations to Drew.

At this coming October’s meeting we will be accepting nominations for all board positions for the S.F. Touchdown Club with elections at our November meeting. The new positions and Officers will be effective January 1^st, 2008.

The offices of President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary and Activities Director will be open for nominations and election. There are a few current board members who are still wanting to serve however all offices are available. To be considered for a board position, pursuant to our bylaws, a person must have attended at least two general meetings and participated in one fund-raising event (I believe most everyone has fulfilled the fund-raising requirement).

If you have an interest or know somebody who has a son playing that may have an interest please get those nominations to Tom Patterson at our next general meeting scheduled for Sunday October 7^th at 7:30 p.m. at the S.F. Shop & Save. Personally I will tell you that serving on a board such as this is rewarding knowing that you are helping make better the S.F. football program!

We look forward to your nominations and if you have any questions regarding the duties of each position I would encourage you to review our bylaws which are listed on our website at www.sftouchdownclub.org which outlines each position.

We have a special after game get-together planned this coming Friday 9/28 for all High School players, team managers and coaches to include their respective families. Moe’s Southwest Grill restaurant has generously offered to provide a free drink and an after-game meal for our high school players and in addition providing a “pay for” menu and “adult” drink specials for the player’s families. They also have adult beverages to include a mean margarita for those responsible folks over 21 who wish to purchase more than soda.

Moe’s is closed normally at this time of evening however the ownership is going to re-open their doors to let in just the South Fayette Touchdown Club and family members to hopefully celebrate our win Friday evening (regardless if we do or don’t).

So after the game this Friday, grab your player after he cleans up and head on down to Moe’s for a good time. The location of Moe’s is:

1597 Washington Pike

Phone: 412-838-1088

They are located in the same plaza the Pittsburgh Bottle Shop, Starbuck coffee, Damons BBQ is in and to the very far right to the rear (in Chartier Valley territory J ).

Action photography was added to our website of the Varsity games against McGuffey and South Park. Other pictures of JV and Middle School will be added in the next few days in addition to Varsity High School Statistics

This year the winner is Shannon Schoppe and the winning ticket was sold by the Black family (Dan Black # 58 is their player). The winning ticket number was 731 drawn on September 7^th.

Shannon, accompanied by Ron Black (seller of the ticket) was presented the winning package at this past Varsity game during half-time. This year the package included:

4 tickets to the Steeler vs. NY Giants
4 plane tickets
2 hotel rooms
Transportation to and from the game
4 Broadway show tickets to Hairspray
$1,500.00 in spending cash
And a lot of Fun!!!!

Congratulations to Shannon and a much larger thank you for everyone who contributed in selling tickets this year! We sold the majority of all 999 tickets out of which only 28 were considered “out of play” due to lost, unsold or unpaid tickets. This is a huge accomplishment for our largest annual fundraiser thanks to everyone who contributed. We can now chalk up another successful year of the Steeler Nation Raffle. Additionally and in a large part the reason for our success with this raffle goes to Sam Reid who led the charge and managed the raffle again this year – so thank you to Mr. Reid for a job very well done!

On Saturday August 25th S.F. held it's first Athletic Pride Day event. It was a incredible event and very successful with an estimated 3000 in attendance according to Dr. Linda Hippert - School Superintendent. All High School sports were recognized, the band played, the cheerleaders cheered and the evening was filled with activities from each sport and boosters organization.

Coach Rossi and crew held a punt/pass and Kick competition which was very successful and lots of fun for the younger S.F. athletes. Our organization was responsible for the research and coordination of the food (Roadside Ribs and Hawaiian Shaved Ice) and the Fireworks display at the end of the event; which I might add was very spectacular! If you didn't make the event you missed a good one - to include the rain holding out until just moments after the fireworks show was over with!

Special thanks goes to everyone who helped out, but particularly our own Tracey Valko who did most of the leg work for this event. We would also like to give a huge thanks to Mrs. Kreush (Richard # 64 Mom) who owns Hawaiian Shaved Ice and giving back to the Touchdown Club a portion of her sales that evening!

New Pictures have been added to the High School portion of the website to include the 2007 Youth Football Camp that Coach Rossi and several High School Players and Coaches held. The other pictures are of the actual Ohio team trip pictures that Coach Rossi took as well as football practice three-a-day's, the Chartiers Valley and Keystone Oaks scrimmages.

If you have any photographs you would like for me to post on the website please email those to me at jim@sftouchdownclub.org I would especially like to get some Middle School practice pictures and when their season starts pictures of the games as well.

For those looking for information on the Program book sales please click "Fundraising".

To date we only have maybe a third of all program sales sold. Each players family is responsible for selling $100.00 worth of either personal or professional (businesses) ads. This fund-raiser is just as important as the Steeler Nation Raffle and we need your support!

This year we reduced the number of fund-raisers the Touchdown Club normally has to benefit everyone; but regardless these few fundraisers this year are imperative - we expect and need 100% of your efforts.

Also many have asked regarding picture and personal ad's. If you would please create your personal ad and simply mark where you want your players picture added we can do this. Picture day is scheduled for this Friday - August 17th and we can have your players picture added to your ad when the pictures are finished and given to us. We can't however wait for you to turn your ad in until after you get your pictures. So get your personal ad in to Tom Patterson and we can ad your son's picture when we receive.

The South Fayette School District in conjunction with the Lion's Pride Organization (an organization consisting of all school athletic teams, band and Little Green Machine) has scheduled our first Athletic Pride Day - scheduled for August 25th from 5:00 - after 9:00 p.m.

There will be activities from the majority of the varsity sports South Fayette offers to include a punt, pass and kick competition for all children up to 8th grade.

Roadside Ribs will be providing food (for purchase) and the celebration will be followed up with a spectacular fireworks display at or around 9:00 p.m. (dusk).

All athletes are asked to participate in the athletic parade (High School Athletes only) meeting at the middle school gym at 5:00 p.m. that day. Everyone is encouraged, but especially for the athletes to purchase a Lions Pride Athletic shirt to wear during the event. Additional information and order forms are available by Clicking Here.

- Team and individual photographs scheduled for both High School and Middle School -

Wayne's World of Photography has been secured to again provide professional photography taking our Team and Individual photographs. The date is set for August 17th at 3:00 p.m. Parents can bring their cameras and take pictures if you would like during these sessions. Please don't forget to send your player with a comb. The High School goes first, followed by the Middle School. Please see your respective Coach for further details.

Pictures have been added for the summer conditioning for both High School and Middle School. Additionally pictures have been added for the High School Ohio trip (departure only - more to come later).

Coach Rossi his staff and High School Players will be conducting an exclusive S.F. Youth Football Camp for grades 1 - 8 on Saturday August 4th.

All participants will receive a camp T-Shirt, sport drinks, prizes, individual instruction and speed and strength development!

- Pictures of the Upper St. Clair passing camp and S.F. Lineman Camp available -

Pictures of the 2007 July Upper St. Clair Passing camp and S.F. Linemen camp are available under the High School and picture section of this website.

The time to sell program book advertisements is here. This program book is a another large fund-raising activity critical to the clubs financial health so your help is greatly appreciated. It is the responsibility of all High School parents to sell at a minimum $100.00 worth of ads. The $100.00 can be a combination of a personal ad or business ads. Tom Patterson is chairing this activity and has developed a instruction document along with an order form.

Remember when selling to businesses that at the home games we have between 3500 - 5000 people attend who all have an opportunity to purchase just for a few dollars this incredible program book.

The Board has recognized that the monthly general membership meetings are lasting too long for anyone's comfort; therefore we have revised the monthly meeting times. The Board will get together at 7:00 p.m. still, but the general membership meeting will now begin at 7:30 and lasting until 8:30 p.m. The new times will shave an hour of time from the old schedule thus encouraging more people to attend the meetings. Regardless however of the time it takes, everyone who has a son playing either Middle School or High School Football should attend!

Pictures for the W&J Passing Tournament for the skill positions held at the W&J Sports Complex are on line and available for viewing/printing. Click here to view.

Head Coach Joe Rossi has announced the three new Middle School Coaches (pending School Board Approval). They are:

Each Middle School Coach has written a letter which was mailed to the Middle School Players earlier this month. If you would like to view these letters click here.

Additionally a new schedule for the Middle School Players has been given and on this websites calendar for viewing.

Congratulation to the new Coaches and we look forward to a great year with the Middle School players!

This coming Friday - June 15 the South Fayette Lions - skill positions will be attending a passing tournament held at W&J college. The tournament is scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Players will be carpooling so any parents interested in helping out please contact Coach Rossi; his number is listed on the letter below.

Please click here to read a letter from Coach Rossi regarding the tournament.

Please click here to print the authorization form for your player to attend and carpool.

The authorization form must be given to Coach Rossi for your player to attend the tournament.

Just in - our fall football schedule for both the High School and Middle School.

Coach Rossi has provided a High School schedule for summer football activities and mandatory camps and practices. Please visit the calendar section of this website to review.

Additionally Coach Rossi has tentative plans to attend several local High School 7 on 7 camps as well as activities for line players. As Coach Rossi coordinates these times and dates he will communicate these as soon as possible to the players and parents.

Coach Rossi is working on the schedule for the Middle School program as well as the new coaching staff. Coach Rossi has stated that summer drills and workouts for the middle school players will begin the first part of July. He hopes to have a schedule out in the very new future.

At the mandatory parent meeting we announced our first fund-raiser as being a "Night at the Races" scheduled for June 8th at Fairview VFD. The tickets are $15.00 per person which includes a dinner buffet starting at 6:30 p.m., soda and brew, 10 races and an auction race, music and dancing, a silent auction and 50/50. For those who want to bring their own libation please feel free to include any snack food for your table.

Again this is our first fund-raiser for the year and we designed this type of event not only to raise some cash but to have a great time and to socialize. Additionally this fund-raiser is our replacement for the Coach's card that we have sold in the past.

We have 300 tickets to sell and 100 horses at $10.00 each. All horse entries need to be submitted by May 21st. Please call Tom Patterson at 412-220-8059 to purchase a horse or ticket to the event.

Additionally we will be holding a silent auction and we need donations for such. If you have any type of donation to provide please contact Tom Patterson as well. We will supply an "official" letter to a contributing party thanking them for the donation and generosity.

In closing we hope to see everyone there. Night at the Races are always a blast and it is a great fund-raising event; not to mention that you receive cash back when you wagered horse wins!

The S.F.T.C. held its annual mandatory parent meeting on May 1st at the High School Auditorium. Many parents attended and received first hand information regarding this year and additionally had a chance to meet new Head Football Coach Joe Rossi. Coach Rossi explained his ideas and gave tentative dates for his summer camps. Additionally UPMC Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Donovan spoke to us on the importance of off-season conditioning relating to the upcoming football season.

Topics discussed at the meeting were: Fundraising for this year, outsourcing of concession stand, media requirements and the pre-ordering of apparel of this year.

On May 21st Coach Rossi and the athletic department is mailing to your home address a packet of information outlining a number of initiatives for the year to include a schedule. Click here to read the letter on-line.

The Administration at South Fayette has hired Joe Rossi as the new Head Varsity Football Coach at South Fayette. Prior Coach Rossi was the Head Coach for Riverview High School and is currently teaching physical education at Riverview. Coach Rossi has been the Head Coach at Riverview for the past five years and has also held various football coaching positions while living in Ohio at the high school level. Coach Rossi resides with his family in South Fayette.

The S.F.T.C. board met with Coach Rossi over this past weekend and discussed what preliminary needs he requires for this season. Coach Rossi will also be introduced at the Mandatory Parent Meeting scheduled for May 1st at the High School Auditorium/Theatre. Coach Rossi plans on giving a brief overview of this program during this meeting.

A mandatory parent meeting has been scheduled for May 1st - Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at the High School Auditorium / Theatre. At this meeting several items will be discussed and voted on to include:

Additionally Mr. Matt Donovan will give a brief overview of the strength and conditioning program at South Fayette.

Congratulations to Sean for being offered a scholarship to play football for Robert Morris University, a Division 1AA college beginning in the fall of 2007. This is a fantastic accomplishment and we are proud of Sean in his efforts leading him to this opportunity! To read more about this story and Sean's success in basketball please click here.

Okay - this one is mine alone to blurt out but make sure you football player is working out and doing all the right things in his off-season. Football is a sport requiring agility, speed and strength - and the more of it the better! Get you're player lifting heavy and into the weight room....

The 2007 General Meeting schedule has been set for this year. Click here to review.