Batavia Goes Baggo for Bulldogs Football

High school athletic programs have been organizing fundraisers for years to ensure athletes can enjoy their sports experiences to the fullest.

Parents of the Batavia football team decided to do something different on Saturday afternoon to raise some money for the team, and more importantly, get the community involved in what the Bulldogs anticipate to be a very exciting season.

Batavia on July 23 hosted a Baggo bean bag toss tournament on the football field.

"I thought it was a nice way of bringing people from the community together," Batavia head football coach Dennis Piron said. "So many people have grown up together in Batavia and it was a great day to see a lot of people and just a whole lot of fun."

Kari Batka and Frank Scaccia came up with the great idea of hosting a Baggo tournament. There were 66 teams that participated and champions were awarded for adults, teens and youth.

Scaccia, whose son Anthony is a sophomore, has already seen his sons Andrew (2011) and Joseph (2009) play football for the Bulldogs and graduate.

"I thought it went really well and even those who didn't play seemed to have a good time sitting and watching," Scaccia said. "For the first one, I thought it was very successful and we hope it's even better next year as an annual event."

Thanks to the entrance fees to participate in the tournament, $815 was raised for the football team. Scaccia said Piron has discretion on how to allocate the funds, but expects it to go toward team dinners and equipment.

Piron said the fundraising aspect is very much appreciated, as was the effort by the parents to organize a event open to the entire community.

"It's a pretty neat feeling when you see so many families and kids come together who are so unselfish," he said. "It's nice to spend time with everyone and to establish a new summer community event."

The concession stands were open for business giving everyone an opportunity to get a taste of what will be served during home football games. A new variation of Baggo was also played at times during the competition, while former head coach Mike Gaspari emceed.

"He was pretty funny," Scaccia said. "We had our own little Johnny Carson up there."

Batavia students and football players John Gray and Danny Albrecht won the teen division while the brother-sister duo of Dan Swanson and Kelli Robinson were the adult winners.

Both Swanson and Robinson are graduates of Batavia and friends of Piron. Swanson's two children graduated from Batavia while Robinson's son will be a freshman this fall.

"It was a good way to support Batavia football," Swanson said.

The two had to play four games in bracket play before moving on to the championship. Swanson joked that it was the first time he played this year while Robinson admitted that she plays at times in the yard and that the two aren't allowed to be teammates during family picnics.