The Moorestown High School Parent Booster Club and student athletes once again celebrated the football season at their annual banquet on Dec. 9, after a year when the event was cancelled.
Club leadership team member Deanne Bertino explained that the cancellation was difficult for the team.
“I think it was really hard for the players,” she said. “I think they didn’t get closure after the season. It was just a really unusual season … It’s been great that this year we’re finally able to come together and recognize this.”
Bertino will take over as club president next year when her son Jack is a senior, replacing Jim Bell.
“Last year was a strange year for football, and at the end of it, there were basically three folks left standing who were in charge of coordinating these kinds of events,” Bell recalled.
Bertino explained that Bell and his wife Laura inspired fellow parents to come together for the team.
“Their leadership has just been amazing this year and we’ve been very, very fortunate to have them,” she noted. “And we’re going to miss them very much next year.”
The football team’s head coach Beau Sherry and Lisa Trapani, head varsity cheerleading coach and president of the Moorestown Education Association, both gave speeches at the banquet.
Players were presented with awards and T-shirts and the seniors were given their team jerseys as keepsakes.
Bertino noted that the coaches work hard to make sure that every student is recognized for teamwork.
“That’s what these coaches really are wonderful at recognizing, that it is a team component,” she said. “You might not be the quarterback or the wide receiver who scores all the points, but every single player is important in terms of making sure that this team is successful.”
Bertino also praised parents who are members of the club.
“We were very lucky that everyone really came together, honestly, last minute … 11th hour it came out.”
The banquet gives students lasting memories after graduation.
“It’s really important that the players and the cheerleaders get recognized for what they do,” Bertino offered. “This is such a snapshot in time for these kids … The bonds that they form are so important and the memories that they create.”
“These are their teammates for life.”
