WESTBOROUGH – David Volin and the two-hand touch football league he helps organize didn’t let this weekend’s blizzard disrupt their nearly 30-year tradition of weekly Sunday morning games.
Instead, the crew slapped on winter gear and played a game spent romping across the snow-covered Greg’s Field in Westborough.
“It’s pretty insane,” Volin said as he surveyed his frozen playing surface.
Group expands over decades
Branded as “the Vol Bowl,” this group has evolved over the years since its founding 1992.
Volin, who didn’t previously play football, discovered a natural affinity for the sport shortly before these games started.
He then honed his skills and found enjoyment as a receiver in small pickup games with roommates that first took place in Newton.
“I’m someone who gets into habits,” he said.
So, the tradition began.
Over the years, Volin has taken the role of “commissioner” of the league.
He maintains an email distribution list that he uses to rally players to attend games each week. He then arrives early before the action to set up the field.
“A lot of people in town hear about it,” Volin said of the group’s expansion over the years. “Next thing you know, it just keeps on growing.”
Group proceeds with snowy game
These games take place weekly from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. between September and May each year.
This week, though, the region spent Saturday watching well over a foot of snow fall in one of the most powerful nor’easters in recent memory.
Volin watched the storm, too, waiting to make a final decision on whether to go forward with a planned game on Sunday.
“I’ve been going back and forth,” he said as snow still fell.
“If the roads are passable, historically, we play,” he added, however. “We don’t really care what’s on the field as long as it isn’t a sheet of ice.”
Volin made the call shortly before 6 p.m. – the game was on.
Players commute for games
Players come from throughout Central Massachusetts for these weekly games.
Sunday was no different.
There are players like Orod Bavar, who is a longtime member of the group. Bavar, teammates noted, spent several years without receivers gloves. In place of them, he would cake hot glue on welding gloves and set out to play.
Jeff Peletier commutes from Leicester for games. Having played hockey and football, he said he enjoys this opportunity.
“It’s great,” he said. “I love being down here.”
For Volin and this group, the tradition continues.
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