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Air Force sponsorship of football to take off
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
The United States Air Force is showing support for the Valley by sponsoring 10 high school football games this season.
Staff sergeants Brandon Poturica and Norris Jamison came up with the idea when they saw another members from a different Air Force Squadron sponsoring games in their local community.
There was a trial run during the Brookfield-Edgewood game last season to see how things would go. This year is the first time the Air Force will sponsor 10 weeks of the season.
“For four years of my high school career I was at a football game every Friday night because I was a band member,” Poturica said.
Poturica and Jamison reached out to the high school athletic departments to see if the schools would be interested in participating.
Every high school in Mahoning and Trumbull County that replied was more than happy to be part of the project. The men were grateful for the positive responses and the help they received from the athletic directors.
Members of the Air Force who are from the Valley gave their input on what games should be chosen. They wanted to sponsor the games that fans look forward to attending each season.
“We wanted to focus on the local rivalries that already existed,” Jamison said.
Each week one high school game will be the Air Force Game of the Week. All the schools participating will only have one Air Force Game of the Week.
There will be a tailgate session from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the stadium before every game. The students, staff, families and community members are invited to come and spend time together before watching football. The Air Force will supply hot dogs and water for the fans to enjoy.
As the game begins and the football teams run out onto the field, they will be carrying an American flag and an Air Force flag.
“This is us supporting the schools,” Poturica said. “That’s the big thing, just being supportive.”
One of the aspects Poturica and Jamison are looking forward to showing is the Liberty Bell trophy. The trophy will travel to each of the games and at the end the winning teams will get a plaque.
“The base gets taken off the bottom and cut into 10 pieces,” Sgt. Poturica said. “A plaque for each school will put on each of those pieces and a framed photo of the team with the bell will be given to them at the end of the season.”
After seeing how the season goes Poturica and Jamison will look into sponsoring other high school events. They’re currently thinking about sponsoring an Air Force bowling league, but doing it more like a tournament event.
They are are hoping that this idea will get to other Air Force members and adapted other locations. The football sponsorship is a way for the Air Force to get its brand into the community while supporting the area in which they were raised.
“That’s what we are here for — to create a tradition within the Mahoning and Trumbull County to have this go on even after we leave,” Jamison said.