Semi-pro football team joins new league; will play at
Garcia-Elder Field
The sound of clashing shoulder pads and banging helmets echoed its way into the Gilroy High School parking lot Wednesday night. And the beaming lights at Garcia-Elder Field along with the barking chants from within confirmed the obvious – football season is back.
But a quick check of the calendar would leave the average passerby confused by the commotion on the corner of Princevalle and 10th Streets.
With the Mustangs’ summer practice still several months away, it was the Central Coast Barnstormers, a semi-professional football team that had taken up residence on the newly built Garcia-Elder gridiron. The Barnstormers, made up of mostly former Gilroy Mustang and San Benito Haybaler players, are part of the newly formed Northern California Amateur Football Federation.
In this, the NCAFF’s inaugural season, each of the 12 teams will play an eight-game schedule with the top-three teams from both the North and South Conference competing in a AAA tournament. The two winners will advance to the NCAFF championship game on June 17, and the All-Star game will be held on June 24. The NCAFF champion will then compete on July 8 in the Western Regional States championship game.
Thanks to Gilroy High School, the Barnstormers will be playing their four home games in style at Garcia-Elder Field, something that the team, which has been in existence for seven seasons, hasn’t been able to do in years past.
“It’s great, it’s awesome,” co-owner and 2005 all-star player Joffre Longoria exclaimed when asked about playing at Garcia-Elder Field. “The field turf is perfect. I mean, look at all the rain we’ve had and the field was bone dry. Even when you’re out here and it’s raining, the field holds it so well.
“We’ve really been given a great opportunity to play here and can’t thank the Gilroy High School administration enough for this privilege,” Longoria continued. “[Mustangs Athletic Director Jack] Daley has been nothing short of amazing, absolutely amazing. He’s given us everything we need and more. We can’t thank him enough for all of his help.”
Daley confirmed that they are receiving monetary compensation for the use of the facilities and that it is comparable to what the school receives from Gavilan College for their use of Garcia-Elder Field.
“It’s a modest amount – a little money, not a lot. But it’s a positive thing for us to be a part of,” Daley said. “There are a lot of kids, former players and even some of our current coaches that are a part of the team. It’s a combination of good community service with a small return financially as well.”
Some of Gilroy High’s current coaches that are members of this year’s Barnstormer team are varsity line coach Steve Lo, Willie Gamboa, who coached on the freshmen staff and used to play on the offensive line at GHS, and Moses Aquilar, the junior varsity team’s linebackers and quarterbacks coach.
Longoria, who graduated from GHS in 1995 and then played two years at Gavilan (where he was part of the Rams team that won the 1996 Fresno Dairy Bowl game) before moving on to Northern State University in South Dakota, admitted that tonight’s opener will have special meaning to a lot of the players.
“It’s going to be real emotional for a lot of us. Coming back here to play at our old school,” Longoria explained. “Yeah, that’s going to bring out a lot of emotions. It’s definitely going to be a night to remember.”
Game time for tonight’s game against the Manteca Thundercats is 7pm. Ticket prices are $5 for adults, $3 for students with ASB cards and admission is free for children under 12 years old.
Tonight, the lights will once again be lit at Garcia-Elder Field and the football grunts and clashing pads will be even louder as former Mustang and Haybaler players suit it up for real, proving that they’ve still got the skills that made them gridiron stars of the Friday Night Lights not too long ago.
NCAFF President of Operations James A. Clarke adopted a league motto that sums it up best – “Play the game as it was intended to be played. Play for the love of it.”
