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YSU Football Alumni Group: Interest on the upswing
By Joe Scalzo
LIBERTY
Since Bo Pelini was hired, membership in Youngstown State’s Football Alumni Group is up, participation is up and enthusiasm is up.
But Penguin Club president Ray Briya would like to see one thing go down: age.
“Right now, enthusiasm is overflowing and I think it’s mostly due to the new coach,” said Briya, a YSU Hall of Famer and one of the founders of the Football Alumni Group. “We just need more young people to get involved.”
More than 100 former Penguins participated in Friday’s Football Alumni Group golf outing at the Youngstown Country Club, which annually raises more than $15,000 for athletic scholarships. That’s an increase of at least 20 golfers from last year’s event, which came on the day Jim Tressel was officially hired as YSU’s president.
Annual memberships are $75 and include things like tickets, programs and stories like this one from YSU Hall of Famer Ned Mervos, who played for Dike Beede in the early 1950s.
“We used to do three-a-days at Camp Fitch, which was the closest thing to Texas A&M when Bear Bryant went there,” said Mervos, who graduated in 1954. “You know that book ‘Junction Boys’? Just change the name to Camp Fitch.
“We used to practice at Volney Rogers and he’d say, ‘Yo.’ He’d start everyone across, like 60 of us, and have us run 200 yards. Then, when he said, ‘Yo,’ you’d turn around and start running back. If you didn’t hear ‘Yo,’ you could end up in North Lima.”
The Football Alumni Group has more than 200 members, but since YSU has more than 1,200 graduated football alumni, Briya wants to see membership closer to 500. The group has seven events each year, with five remaining in 2015. The next event is the bocce social at the MVR on July 19.
While Eric Wolford closed practices late in his tenure, Pelini has invited YSU football alumni, as well as anyone involved in the program, to watch practices and get involved in the program, Briya said.
“He’s making the alumni feel welcome at practices,” said Mervos, who graduated in 1954. “Before, there was no invitation. You could be there, but [it was like], ‘What the hell are you doing here?’”
Said Briya, “Eric was a great guy, but Bo just takes it up to here. He’s not what he appears to be. He is a pure gentleman and I admire him for his concern for his kids and the game. I’m very, very impressed with him. The last guy I met like that was our president, Jim Tressel.”
Briya said Penguin Club memberships have also increased over the last few months. The group is starting a student Penguin Club, which will feature a reduced membership fee.
“They’re family now, they’re part of the pride, and we want them to get deeper involved,” he said. “And when they leave school, we want to keep them involved.”
For details on joining the Football Alumni Group, call assistant athletic director Tom Morella at 330-941-2351 or Jim Morrison at 330-941-3720 or visit www.ysusports.com/penguin_club/football_alumni.