Florida Eels Fans Welcome the Florida Eels Back To Town With A Huge Reception

14 Aug 2016 by Frank Scarpaci

Florida Eels Fans Welcome the Florida Eels Back To Town
With A Huge Reception
For the 10th straight season the Eels Training Camp opens with a huge community reception. Many of the Florida Eels players arrived for its 21-day training camp. The opening weekend allows the players families to meet and greet with the dozens of billet families who play host to the Florida Eels’ junior players. It is a weekend long festivities where by the players get to spend down time meeting and greeting the entire coaching staff. They get to know once another in a less formal environment. The players also get to have their first stab at team bonding. There are so many guys from out of town and from Europe so for many it is their first time with one another.

The Fort Myers Cape Coral community also gets to meet our players. So many of our fans get to come and meet our new and reunite with our rerunning players. The Eels are heavily supported in the community. Unlike many junior programs our teams have true fans. Yes indeed, we average 250 folks per game but there are many games we draw in excess of 500 fans. In fact as will be attested to by the Tampa Juniors and the Palm Beach Hawks, many of our fans travel to our away games. We average some times 100+ fans at away games. In fact when we attuned the Charlotte Showcase we had well over 100 fans there as well.

Last night the Florida Eels owners rented the ice for a special public skate with members of our families, our youth hockey program and fans in general. It was pretty special having our players skate right along with the kids and moms and dads as well. It is this type of interactive activities that captures the hearts of so many of the residents in the Southwest Florida community. We are not just another hockey team renting ice at the Fort Myers Skatium. Oh no. These boys are very much involved n all kinds of community volunteer efforts. Last year we raised enough “Food for the Hungry” to feed 100 families from November to Christmas. We raised several hundred “Toys For Tots”, and the previous year we clothed well over 100 young children with brand new clothes at Christmas as well as other community-based activities. We will repeat all of the above this season while also taking part in “Reading With Young Children In the Public Schools”

It was a very warm and heart felt evening as we saw teachers from the local public schools there to welcome our players, members of the Cape Coral Police Department, The City of Ft Myers Police Department, the Lee County Sheriff’s office and the Lee County Fire Department. Their presence underscores how much the Eels are part of the Fort Myers Cape oral Community. In fact the Eels have several of our own alumni who have graduated from college and returned back to this community to become educators, law enforcement officers, and fighter fighters and EMTs as well.

Last night there was a huge reception for the players, their families, billet families, and members in the community. We had so many very generous food donations from the families and friends. But a large thank you goes out to one of the Florida Eels biggest sponsor “Hooters” who continues their unwavering support of our Florida Eels. We thank you immensely. Without you we could not have made this the success it was. We thank so many of the moms and dads who volunteered their efforts in preparing the food and making this event once again very special.

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