WESTBOROUGH – It’s the morning of a beautiful fall day.
On Greg’s Field on Upton Road, a half-dozen guys play two-touch football.
Long lengths of rope and cones mark the field, and a teddy bear and jacket act as down markers.
Four “Mississippis” after the snap, players can try and pursue the quarterback. When you get to the last set of cones, you’re in the red zone.
There’s no scoreboard, no stats, no coaches prowling up and down the sidelines.
For many of the players, it’s been that way, from Labor Day weekend to just before Memorial Day for the past 30 years. Now, the group celebrated 30 years with a “VolBowl.”
Co-founder and organizer David Volin said it started in 1993 in West Newton when he and two roommates were looking for something to do on a Sunday morning. Volin wanted to do something before the Patriots played.
“There was nothing going on,” said Volin.
He and his roommates, and their friends, would play two-touch football – “sometimes 2-on-2, sometimes 3-on-3.”
Before long, it became a weekly part of their routine.
“Let’s not miss a week,” said Volin. “I’d really get into it.”
Volin moved to Natick in 1996, but “the friends kept the game going.”
Two years later, he moved to Westborough, where he currently lives.
“I took the game here,” he said. “It kept growing and growing.”
According to Volin, there’s currently a roster of 40 to 50 people. On Mondays, he sends an email blast asking who’s available to play that Sunday, and on Thursday, he creates the teams.
And on Sundays? It’s game time from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
There used to be “real” teams, but because of other commitments and other “outside factors,” there haven’t been teams since 2006.
“I love it,” said Steve Susel of Charlton, a player currently on the disabled list with a knee injury. “Nobody does it like Dave.”
Time and weather have not stopped the league, although it has slowed some of the players a bit. That includes Volin, who used to play wide receiver but has switched to quarterback.
Having a couple of broken fingers helped make that decision.
“I don’t know how much longer I’ll go,” he said. “I feel like I have an ownership in it.”
On Columbus Day weekend, the league celebrated its 30th anniversary with a “VolBowl” alumni game. Players included Volin’s son, Brady, who is a freshman at UMass-Amherst.
“We’ve had people who haven’t played since the ‘90s come to the alumni game,” said Volin. “We had two games that day.”
Those learning more about the league may contact Volin at [email protected].
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