A youth football team in Delaware County is competing for a national championship, And their Sharon Hill community really needs a win right now.
The Sharon Hill Ramblers 13U team is undefeated in 2022.
“These kids are doing an amazing job,” Ramblers 13U coach Romeo Rivello said.
They spent the recent days getting prepared for a national championship in Florida next week. The practices take place in the shadow of Academy Park High School where a game of football became the scene of tragedy.
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“This group right here is resilient,” Ramblers 13U head coach Brian Welsh said. “On and off the field.”
Last year, 8-year-old Fanta Bility was killed as police officers fired shots at a moving car as a nearby crowd left a high school football game.
“One of the kids on our team last year, he was related to the young girl who was killed,” Ramblers 13U coach Eric Storoazzi said.
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Since that night in August of last year the borough of Sharon Hill has seen heartache, protests and the firing of the police officers involved in that shooting. Those officers recently pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment as part of a plea deal.
“It’s been dampening, a lot of heads down and sadness from that, communications and relationships with the police have been a little different,” Rivello said. “But, this is something that definitely is picking everybody’s spirits up, you know, something positive for a change.”
On the field, the 13U Ramblers have come together to be winners.
“With all the things the kids went through the past year -- it’s just amazing,” Storoazzi said while noting he is inspired by the kids on the team.
They have a community behind them.
“Everybody shows support when they can and I think that it’s big, very big for the community,” Welsh said.
Already this season, the Ramblers 13U team has won three trophies, but they have their eyes on the biggest prize of all – a national championship.
“The reason we’re pushing so hard is it’s history up here,” Welsh said.
Once they win, Welsh said he hopes they get a police escort from the airport.
