Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/26212
A ‘Force’ In the Community: Football Is Back by KAREN POPPELE When is a football team more than just a football team providing fans with action-packed entertainment? When it becomes a Force in the community — make that a force for the community. And that’s exactly what Andrew Bondarowicz, president of the Fayetteville Force, hopes to bring to the Fayetteville area with the return of indoor football play — and the revival of a familiar team name. The Fayetteville Force, one of 16 teams in the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL), will open its inaugural season at the Crown Coliseum against the Carolina Speed on Friday, March 18. Bondarowicz, successful sports agent, lawyer and founder of Fanteractive, LLC, a new subscription- based interactive system enabling fans to take part in the game from the sidelines, sees the team as a force for good. “It’s kind of funny because the Force name actually has a two-fold re- creation,” said Bondarowicz. “One is for the Fayetteville Force hockey team, and secondly, there was a team called the Force in the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) in Greenville, S.C. And in both of those instances, I would say that the situations ended badly; however, the name Force really embodies a lot of the things that we wanted to espouse here.” Bondarowicz sees a far more positive future for the Force, and the community. “The notion with a lot of sports teams is, ‘Hey, we have a team in town. Come support us and buy tickets,’ and that’s kind of where the relationship remains, whereas one of the things that we want to really try with this team is to be an impact on the community. Being a force in the community, being a force in the classroom, being a force in everything you do. It’s not only a tagline, but it’s really a theme around what our organization is looking to do.” And the Fayetteville Force is certainly looking to do more than just score touchdowns on the fi eld. Fayetteville Force Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Charles Gunnings. “I mentioned about being a force in the community,” Bondarowicz said, “and one of the things we want to do is recognize a lot of unsung heroes. There’s a lot of people doing a lot of good things every single day and most go unnoticed, and we can kind of use the platform that we have to bring some recognition to those people. Secondly, volunteerism, especially in diffi cult economic times, is something that’s very important, too, because nonprofi ts as much as anybody are stretched with donations going down, and an extra pair of hands always comes in handy. So one of the things we’re looking to do later this spring is have fans and friends of the team essentially volunteer for different organizations around the city. And not just the city, but in the region to build on that community aspect and also to lend a hand in need. We have some school programs that we’re working on that we want to establish before the end of the school year. Our challenge has been that there’s a limit to how much we can accomplish in a very short time frame.” In addition to promoting and contributing positive things in the community, the Fayetteville Force expects to play the kind of football fans won’t want to miss. “Basically, we expect to put a strong product on the fi eld every week,” said Bondarowicz. “We have a veteran coaching staff. We have a lot of players that have a game-established history, and we expect to have a strong showing and make the community proud that way. “We plan on adding fun events and unique aspects to every game. We kind of look at each individual game as its own event, so we have six different events that we’re going to be running during the regular season that are built around a football. You can expect something different every time, and we hope to have some entertainment, a lot of pre- game tailgates. We’re going to make this a fun atmosphere because one of the unique things about football, is that it’s part of Americana, and the more entertaining we can make it, the more engaging we can make it, the better it is for the community at large and their fan base.” For more information on the Fayetteville Force, including schedule, team members and coaching staff, Fanteractive and tickets to the inaugural season’s games, as well as sponsorship opportunities and more, call 910-920-9200 or visit www.fayettevilleforce.net. KAREN POPPELE, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM When It Comes To Weight Loss Surgery, You Have Options. 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