Thanksgiving is two and a half months away, but the Plant City Dolphins are already talking turkey.
The varsity team is hoping to spend its holiday in Gatlinburg, Tenn., doing what it does best — competing on the gridiron. Should the group raise enough money, it plans to play in the 2017 Gatlinburg Thanksgiving Bowl at Rocky Top Sports World from Nov. 22 through 25.
“We’re gonna take all of them up there and try to do the best we can … they deserve it,” equipment manager Buck Chapman said. “They work hard, play hard.”
The tournament, which has been played annually since 1972, is expected to feature over 20 teams from around the United States in several age groups. The Dolphins are only bringing their varsity team because, due to the tournament’s weight regulations, it’s the only one that wouldn’t have to cut or add any players from its other divisions. The varsity Dolphins are the only team in the organization to play at unlimited weight.
Currently sitting on a 2-0-0 record, the players hope they can say they played in the Thanksgiving Bowl shortly after winning the Tri-County Youth Football and Cheerleading Conference’s Superbowl championship game at the varsity level.
“We’re just a good team,” center Colton Drawdy said. “We’ve got good coaching this year and we work pretty hard.”
The team is also working hard to raise enough money for all 30 players to be able to go. Playing in the tournament would require the team to spend four nights and five days, Nov. 21 through 26, in Gatlinburg, and the adults don’t want them to focus on just football while they have the opportunity to visit another state.
“We want to try to raise enough to take them to, say, Dollywood one day, take them zip-lining, go-karts … we’re making it about them,” Chapman said. “A lot of the kids have never been out of the state of Florida.”
Fullback Quentin Silas, who came over from the Antioch Redskins two seasons ago, says the change in pace will help bring him and the team closer together.
“I’m wanting to build a better bond between my brothers of football because, here, we only get to play on Saturdays and we have practice throughout the week,” Silas said. “But when we go to Tennessee we’ll be doing tons of different activities and learn who we all are.”
To cover such costs, the Dolphins are trying to come up with $25,000 by Nov. 17. The program is planning to host car washes, helmet drives, a raffle and anything else that comes to mind to raise the money. Fundraising events will be promoted on the team’s Facebook page, facebook.com/PCDolphins, as well as its main website, PlantCityDolphins.com.
The team has been raising money for a month and, after collecting around $5,000, is ramping up its efforts. But even if the Dolphins don’t reach their five-figure goal, they’ll take what they can get.
“We got a late start, but we’ll be good,” Chapman says. “We’ll get it. It’ll work out. We’ve got a lot of good people in town that would love to help.”