Low numbers sack RCS varsity football

There will be no varsity football at Rome Catholic School this year due to a decline in the number of athletes.

"When we left school in June, we had 25 players sign up for physicals," Rome Catholic athletic director and football coach Dennis Skibitski said this morning. "When we met Friday we only had 17 that were committed. We spent the weekend making phone calls and we couldn’t get any more. With 17 kids that certainly puts you in an unsafe situation. Of those 17 position-wise, we didn’t have enough linemen."

New York State Public High School Athletic Association rules require that each team must have at least 16 players on the roster. Monday was the opening day of high school football practice.

"The sad part is the kids that decided not to play were seniors," Skibitski said. "They were committed to the program for the last two years and then backed out. The kids I feel sorry for are the six seniors that were committed and now they won’t get the chance to play football in their senior year. I also feel sorry for the schools that we were supposed to be playing. They’re out of a game now and it’s very hard to fill one in at this time of the year. The schedule has been set for months. I feel sorry for those schools and those people."  Full story at Rome Sentinel.