August 1, 2018 at 6:30 p.m.
Hodag football set for annual Family Day
Hodag football set for annual Family Day
The team will hold its annual Hodag Football Family Day, sponsored by the Hodag Gridiron Club, Saturday morning at Mike Webster Stadium.
The day will feature an intra-squad practice for the varsity, JV and JV2 teams beginning at 9 a.m., and plenty of other activities to keep the family entertained.
"It's just a fun day," Hodag Gridiron Club president Zach Ready said. "We try to mimic the Packers' Family (Night) as best as we can. We're not as big a name, obviously, but we think it gives the community an opportunity to come out, enjoy and get to know us a little bit."
Activities will include test drives by Rhinelander GM/Toyota, with a donation made to the Gridiron Club on Rhinelander GM/Toyota's behalf for every test drive taken. The Gridiron Club will be selling concessions and Hodag football apparel. There will be a bounce house and face painting for the kids and games for everyone after the practice ends until a little after noon.
"We have a fun time," Ready said. "I think this year we'll have a bunch of games. I know last year it was a big hit when we had the punt catch. That was a fun time. We'll have that. We'll have a couple of relay races."
This event is one of the major fundraisers of the year for the Gridiron Club, along with the Iron Mike 5K and the Hodag Football Kickoff banquet in September. Those funds go to support the Rhinelander High School and James Williams Middle School football teams over and above the budget the teams receive from the School District of Rhinelander.
"We focused a lot on our equipment - helmets and pads and stuff like that - the essentials for playing football," Ready said of recent club expenditures. "We've also been looking at getting some new stuff for out on the field practice-wise. We've been looking at new uniforms, which hasn't come through yet, but coming up soon we'll be looking to pull the trigger on that."
In addition, the Gridiron Club has provided portable pre-game meals for the varsity team for bus trips prior to away games - a program Ready said he wants to see expand to all middle and high school levels this year.
The Gridiron Club is entirely volunteer-driven, and Ready said the club is always looking for new members.
"We've got a lot of new members that are jumping in right away, getting involved," he said. "The fun thing about the Gridiron Club, once we get into season, it's pretty much about taking care of the kids, getting them what we can."
In addition to helping fill club coffers, Family Day will also gives spectators their first look at a Hodag football team that enters 2018 with some momentum after winning its final two games of 2017.
"It's the first day that you're going to be able to see the new Rhinelander Hodags and what we're going to bring this year," Ready said. "It will be a fun day to see that."
For more information on the Hodag Football team and the Gridiron Club, visit www.HodagFootball.com.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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