NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION CHAPTERS AWARD $775,000

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION CHAPTERS AWARD $775,000

NFF Scholar-Athlete banquets honor 3,000 deserving student-athletes nationwide

MORRISTOWN, N.J., March 7, 2006 - More than 95 banquets throughout the country will honor high school and college football scholar-athletes during the 2005-2006 chapter banquet season, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today.

The NFF’s chapter network, spread across 119 regions in 46 states, annually recognizes over 3,000 high school and college football student-athletes while awarding $775,000 in scholarships at their banquets. Honorees are selected not only for outstanding achievement on the football field and in the classroom but for exemplary leadership and community service as well.
Many chapter banquets also pay tribute to leaders within the football community, honoring them with Distinguished American Awards, Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Awards and Outstanding Football Official Awards.

“The scholar-athlete banquet season highlights the NFF’s mission of promoting this great game of football on the local level,” said NFF President Steven J. Hatchell. “These scholar-athletes are examples to their peers, having applied the lessons learned through football – discipline, teamwork, accountability - to all aspects of their life.”

Included among the highlights of this year’s banquet season are the 45th annual Schuylkill/Pottsville (Pa.) and Columbus (Ohio) chapter banquets; the 40th anniversaries of the King County (Seattle) chapter and the Middle Tennessee (Nashville) chapter; the 25th anniversary celebrations for the Miss/Lou (Natchez, Miss.) and the Valley of the Sun (Scottsdale, Ariz.) chapters; and the inaugural scholar-athlete banquets for both the Hudson Valley (N.Y.) and National Capital Region (Washington, DC) chapters. The NFF will also eclipse $10 million all-time awarded to high school and college scholar-athletes this year.

Nineteen banquets will be held on college campuses, including six on Big Ten university campuses (Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin). A half-dozen chapter banquets are expected to top 1,000 attendees, led by the Touchdown Club of Houston chapter banquet and the Portland (Ore.) scholar-athlete banquet. The Orange County (Calif.) chapter will recognize 81 scholar-athletes at their March 20 banquet, while the Wyoming chapter will extend honors to ten community leaders, including their Greatest High School Football Fans award and their Football Coach Career Achievement award, on March 18. At the March 19 Delaware Valley (NJ) chapter banquet, 31 student-athletes will receive $37,000 in scholarship awards.

The chapter banquet season kicked off last December 1 with the Nassau County and Suffolk County (NY) chapter banquets and concludes June 22 at the Northwest Indiana (West Lafayette) chapter scholar-athlete showcase, with just one exception: the University of Nebraska chapter will host their banquet in September 2006.


With 119 chapters and over 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in America’s young people.
Learn more at www.footballfoundation.com.


NFF CHAPTER BANQUETS 2006


Chapter - Date

Nassau County (N.Y.) - December 1, 2005 Suffolk County (N.Y.) - December 1, 2005 Western N.Y. (Buffalo) - December 12, 2005 Michigan (Detroit) - December 13, 2005 Portland (Ore.) - December 14, 2005 Mid-Michigan (East Lansing) - December 15, 2005 Inland Northwest (Spokane, Wash.) - January 16, 2006 TD Club of Houston - January 18, 2006 Clark County (Wash.) - January 18, 2006 Central N.Y. - January 29, 2006 Tacoma-Pierce (Wash.) - January 29, 2006 Westchester (N.Y.) - February 1, 2006 Columbus (Ohio) - February 8, 2006 Minnesota (Minneapolis) - February 12, 2006 Colorado (Denver) - February 13, 2006 Greater Cincinnati - February 16, 2006 Schuylkill/Pottsville (Pa.) - February 19, 2006 Lehigh Valley (Pa.) - February 19, 2006 Miss/Lou (Natchez, Miss.) - February 23, 2006 S.M. McNaughton (Shreveport, La.) - February 23, 2006 Northern California (San Francisco) - February 23, 2006 Valley of the Sun (Scottsdale, Ariz.) - February 25, 2006 South Jersey (Vineland) - March 5, 2006 Southern Arizona (Tucson) - March 5, 2006 King County (Wash.) - March 5, 2006 Auburn (Ala.) - March 6, 2006 Pasadena/San Gabriel (Calif.) - March 6, 2006 San Fernando Valley (Calif.) - March 7, 2006 Greater Baltimore - March 8, 2006 Sacramento Valley (Calif.) - March 8, 2006 Middle Tennessee (Nashville) - March 9, 2006 San Bernardino (Calif.) - March 9, 2006 Walter Zable (San Diego) - March 10, 2006 Los Angeles - March 10, 2006 Essex County (N.J.) - March 15, 2006 Toledo (Ohio) - March 15, 2006 Springfield (Ohio) - March 15, 2006 Central Indiana (Indianapolis) - March 18, 2006 Wyoming (Casper) - March 18, 2006 Delaware Valley (Trenton, N.J.) - March 19, 2006 Bill Denny (East Brunswick, N.J.) - March 19, 2006 Riverside County (Calif.) - March 19, 2006 Orange County (Calif.) - March 20, 2006 Tri-Cities (Johnson City, Tenn.) - March 21, 2006 Commonwealth (Richmond, Va.) - March 26, 2006 Gene J. Casey (New Haven, Conn.) - April 2, 2006 Western Mass. (Amherst) - April 4, 2006 Iowa (Des Moines) - April 8, 2006 East Tennessee (Knoxville) - April 8, 2006 Central Pa. - April 9, 2006 Passaic County (N.J.) - April 9, 2006 Ralph Desantis (Fairfield, Conn.) - April 13, 2006 Arkansas (Little Rock) - April 15, 2006 Texas Tech (Lubbock) - April 17, 2006 Sun Flower (Lawrence, Kan.) - April 19, 2006 Morris County (N.J.) - April 19, 2006 Tampa (Fla.) - April 19, 2006 Chicago Metro - April 20, 2006 Moose Krause (South Bend, Ind.) - April 20, 2006 Wisconsin (Madison) - April 22, 2006 Southern Idaho (Boise) - April 22, 2006 Southeastern Ohio (Athens) - April 23, 2006 Midlands (Columbia, S.C.) - April 25, 2006 Brian Piccolo (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) - April 26, 2006 Utah (Provo) - April 26, 2006 Hudson Valley (West Point, N.Y.) - April 27, 2006 Montana (Helena) - April 29, 2006 Rochester (N.Y.) - April 30, 2006 Northeastern Ohio (Mayfield Heights) - May 1, 2006 Rhode Island (West Warwick) - May 1, 2006 Corrigan/Faircloth (Winston-Salem, N.C.) - May 1, 2006 Tom Lombardo (St. Louis) - May 7, 2006 Central Mass. (Worcester) - May 7, 2006 Southern Tier (Binghamton, N.Y.) - May 7, 2006 Vermont (Middlebury) - May 7, 2006 Hawaii (Honolulu) - May 7, 2006 Eastern Mass. (Randolph) - May 8, 2006 Capital District (Albany, N.Y.) - May 8, 2006 Joe Yukica (Manchester, N.H.) - May 9, 2006 Memphis (Tenn.) - May 9, 2006 Philadelphia - May 10, 2006 Middle Georgia (Macon) - May 11, 2006 Greater Austin (Texas) - May 15, 2006 Nevada (Las Vegas) - May 19, 2006 Northern Connecticut (New Britain) - May 21, 2006 State of Maine (Brunswick) - May 23, 2006 New York City - May 31, 2006 Southeastern Connecticut (New London) - May TBA National Capital Region (Washington, D.C.) - May TBA Bergen County (N.J.) - May TBA Northeast Indiana (Fort Wayne) - May TBA Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) - May TBA Western PA (Pittsburgh) - June 8, 2006 Northwest Indiana (West Lafayette) - June 22, 2006 West Virginia (Charleston) - June TBA Nebraska (Lincoln) - September 2006

NFF Contact
Chris Caputo.......Communications Assistant
22 Maple Ave.
Morristown, NJ 07960
973.829.1933
www.footballfoundation.org