Meet new football coach at Lift-A-Thon

The Fallbrook High School football team’s 10th annual Lift-A-Thon will help fund expenses of the football program. For head varsity coach Joe Silvey and his coaching staff and players, the Lift-A-Thon (which this year will take place May 16) serves another important purpose.

“We’re also just trying to kick off our season in a sense and build some community support,” Silvey said.

The actual first game of the 2008 season will take place September 5 at home against Murrieta Valley High School. Silvey will make his gameday coaching debut against the Nighthawks, but the first public event with Silvey as coach will be the Lift-A-Thon.

The 2008 season will also see a realigned Avocado League. Fallbrook’s league games will be against San Pasqual, Escondido, Torrey Pines, La Costa Canyon, and Mission Hills, and the Warriors will play non-league contests against Vista, El Camino,

Rancho Buena Vista, and Mount Carmel, as well as against Murrieta Valley.

“There’s a lot that’s new,” Silvey said.

The Lift-A-Thon event begins with a ‘Mexican Feast’ dinner prepared by La Caseta Mexican Restaurant for $7 per plate. The dinner, in the high school gym, will begin at 5 p.m. and be followed by the actual Lift-A-Thon from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

“We’re hoping people will come for that, have some food and a good time,” Silvey said.

The lifters will be soliciting donations in the community, and sponsors are underwriting the event. “We’re hoping to raise some money,” Silvey said.

Silvey had spent the previous eight seasons as the defensive coordinator for Carlsbad High School. Although the Lancers do not have an annual Lift-A-Thon, Silvey experienced the fundraiser when he was the defensive coordinator at Santa Margarita Catholic High School and when he was a player at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, although at Santa Margarita and Mater Dei the Lift-A-Thon didn’t have the status of a community event.

“Where I’ve been before it’s just a fundraiser,” Silvey said.

The lifters will be bench pressing during the Lift-A-Thon, but will not compete against each other. They will seek to break school records and personal records.

“I think that’s a big incentive for them,” Silvey said.

The Friday night scheduling was intended to match the traditional high school football day of the week.

“We’re trying to make it as much as possible like a game night thing,” Silvey said.

While the money raised will be important to the program, the event also gives the community an opportunity to meet Silvey as well as the assistant coaches and players.

“It’s just as important for me that people come,” Silvey said.