RallyNorth.net

Ranger Revival

Thursday, September, 06 By Alan Siegel
Staff writer

METHUEN | Justin Marsan stood in the middle of the Methuen football world.

Pop Warner players did jumping jacks. Coaches blew whistles. Parents watched in lawn chairs.

Done for the day, the high school team jogged off, leaving the expansive practice fields to the younger kids. Marsan, a junior running back and punter, hung back.

Nicholson Stadium, the sight of so many disappointments over the last four seasons, loomed behind him.

"For the past couple years," he said, "it's been rough."

But on this clear evening, all was well. Marsan, along with several of his Methuen High teammates, broke off to work with the youth teams.

"(My friends) tell me I'm going to be a high school coach," he said before demonstrating proper hand-off technique to a group of 9-year-olds.

Marsan, like new varsity coach Pat Graham, is more interested in the future than the past.

Graham and first-year Pop Warner president Ed Wallace spent the spring and summer synching up Methuen's youth and high school football teams. Instead of wallowing in recent failures | the Rangers went 3-37 from 2003 to 2006 | the town hopes to create a pipeline between the two programs. The road back to prominence starts here.

"At one point," said Jenee Sauvageau, whose two sons, Tyler and Cross, play at the Pop Warner level, "Methuen was someone to compete against."

'This is what this town's been missing'

The reclamation project began simply. First, Graham and his players held instructional clinics on Thursday evenings in June. Each session cost $10 per child, which presumably drove up numbers. Wallace estimated about 60 or 70 Pop Warner players attended on average.

"The idea," Graham said, "is really just to get kids interested in football."

The enthusiasm spilled over to parents. They raved to Wallace afterward. "This is what this town's been missing," one told him.

Since then, Wallace hasn't exactly overhauled the existing Pop Warner program. Instead, he and the board of directors tweaked the existing system. To gather ideas, they examined the methods of thriving youth football communities like Billerica and Acton-Boxboro. Then they asked themselves a few simple questions.

"What are they doing?" Wallace said. "What makes them so successful?"

Wallace hopes the ensuing changes, although small, will help build a better program.

Methuen's youth teams, which in the past had practiced four days per week in August, increased their work load to five days a week, the maximum Pop Warner allows in the summer. "It gives the (kids) a little bit of an edge," Wallace said.

Equipment, normally distributed after practices started, was given out beforehand, he said, "To take some of the distraction off the coaches."

The newly-hired Graham even recommended a basic playbook and calisthenic package for the youngsters.

"It basically uniforms all our teams, which is a good thing," Wallace said. "They'll already have a leg up when they get to high school."

Pop Warner and beyond

In recent years, Methuen Pop Warner has been the de facto feeder program for Central Catholic. In 2006, more than a quarter of the players on the Raiders roster (24 of 92) were from Methuen.

"In the last few years, the kids that are on the fence, when it comes down to athletics, they're going to go to Central," Wallace said. "Because Methuen's not competitive."

If the Rangers improve, Wallace said, "There's no doubt in my mind the town will get behind the team."

Numbers at the youth level have increased this season. Last year, 210 kids played Pop Warner football. This year, it's up to 240, Wallace said.

"These kids are giving up their month of August," Wallace said. "That takes a special kid."

It also takes a special breed of high schooler to stick around after energy-sapping double sessions.

"It's a natural fit," Graham said. "That's the type of guys my kids are."

Matt Dugan, a senior center for Methuen High, joined Marsan to help out at Pop Warner practice last week.

His youth football days were, well, difficult at the outset. He didn't think he was suited for the grueling schedule and its physical toll.

"After my first year I wasn't sure I wanted to come back," he said.

Then he reconsidered, choosing what he now realizes was the bumpier, more rewarding path. The decision paid off years later when he landed a starting position in high school. Now, he said, it's his job to help convince kids to stay with the sport.

Graham's arrival appears to be aiding the cause. On the first official day of high school practice on Aug. 20, Graham spotted several freshmen | who were still days away from putting on pads and helmets | watching from the bleachers at Nicholson Stadium.

"There is a big buzz around Methuen High School football," Graham said.

Whether the buzz will translate to long-term success is unclear. But the road back starts here.