Cicero, N.Y. — About 20 Central New York youth football players got a chance to meet some of their heroes on Thursday during syracuse.com’s annual fall media day at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.
Players from the Clay Panthers — based out of Liverpool — got autographs, selfies and high-fives from their favorite Section III high school football players.
“It just gives the kids this great experience because they look at the older kids in high school ... basically like their college stars or NFL stars,” said Raysean Johnston, who has coached with the Clay Panthers program for the last five years. “For them today, it’s the football environment. They’re around their older peers. I call them big brothers.”
The Liverpool football team, led by head coach Joe Sindoni, posed for photos with the kids and threw some T-shirts up for grabs in the C-NS turf endzone.
“So what’s cool about the coaches there now at Liverpool, with coach Sindoni and Antwaun (Johnson) and the other staff as well, is that they’re all trying to work together with us to bridge the gap,” Johnston said. “Today was one of many first steps along with the camps that they do every year.”
The players from the Clay Panthers will attend Liverpool’s first game against Rome Free Academy on Sept. 6. The youth team also begins its season on Aug. 31.
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