Community Corner
Semi-Pro Football Game at WPHS Raises Funds for Cancer Research
The Westchester Steelers faced off against the Northeast Pennsylvania Miners at White Plains High School Saturday in a charity game for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Westchester/Hudson Valley Chapter of (LLS) expects to raise about $875,000 during its three Light The Night Walks this year—according to Campaign Director Barbara Gallagher.
About $1,000 of that was raised at Saturday, as the semi-proWestchester Steelers football team hosted the Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA) Miners in a.
“It was a great way to promote awareness of Light The Night and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,” said Gallagher—after the game, which was cosponsored by InspiriaMedia and Hirshfield & Costanzo, PC, both of which are White Plains-based.
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“Hopefully we can work again with the Steelers and raise even more awareness.”
Besides raising money for LLS, and awareness about blood cancers and the Light The Night walks—the event also allowed those who attended to get to know the Steelers, who will be calling White Plains High School their home field starting this season.
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Though the Miners—who are currently in a higher division than the Steelers—won the game 19-8, Anthony Puoti enjoyed the game just the same, despite his local team’s loss.
The 6-year-old Yonkers resident is one of this year’s Light The Night Westchester Honored Patient. He enjoyed the game with his parents, Sal and Michelle, and siblings Nicholas, 4; Alexa, 8; and Salvatore, 9, and did the coin toss at the beginning of the game.
Anthony, who will be starting second grade at Casimir Pulaski Elementary School, was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia during his kindergarten year. He is currently in the maintenance phase of his chemotherapy treatments and loves playing baseball, drawing, and playing video games.
The Puotis said they plan to come out and support the Steelers at their games this year. Before White Plains High School, the Steelers played their home games at Tibbetts Field in Yonkers.
The Steelers—whose official sponsor is Hirshfield & Costanzo—made the game interesting late in the first half, when quarterback Henry Ross, 21, of Scarsdale, completed a 60-yard touchdown pass to Tashieum Carney, 22, of New Rochelle.
After Andrew Thomas, 22, caught a pass to convert a two-point conversion—the Steelers were down just 12-8 at halftime.
Kevin Bovan, 54—the special teams coach for the Steelers and a 1974 White Plains High School graduate—said the team is in rebuilding mode and hopes to move up to the Miners’ division, which involves farther travel.
The game was an exhibition for the Steelers—but actually counted for the Miners, Bovan said. Bovan was a kicker, outside linebacker, and tight end in high school, and recently retired from the Steelers, he said. He still fills in as an emergency kicker.
Teammates Terrell Holdipp of White Plains and Nate Murray of Yonkers, both 31 and 1998 graduates of White Plains High School, are looking forward to playing in White Plains again.
“It’s my mental health,” said Holdipp, of getting on the field and competing at a high level. “I play whenever I can.”
The Light The Night Walks fund research and support for people battling cancer. Loved ones form fundraising teams and millions of consumers help by donating at retail outlets. Michelle Puoti said Anthony’s team, known as Anthony’s Army, numbered over 100 last year.
“This year we’ll probably have more since his whole school wants to come,” she said.
Anthony’s Army will be participating in Light The Night on Nov. 5 at Playland in Rye. There are also walks on Oct. 15 and Oct. 16, at the Orange County Government Center in Goshen and Nyack Memorial Park in Nyack, respectively.
The Steelers open their regular season on Aug. 21 against the Brooklyn Knights at Brooklyn College. They will face another Westchester team, the Warriors, at Fordham University in the Bronx on Sept. 18, and their first regular-season game at White Plains High School will be on Oct. 1, against the New England Knights.
