Stampeder Nation Newsletter - September 2023
Good day to you, Stampeders Nation!
As the third quarter of the 2023 calendar year is ending, we can say without a doubt it has been nothing short of remarkable - even “history in the making!”
Rolling through May and June, the Class of 2023 - which included many former Buffalo Stampeders athletes - walked across the stage to receive their diploma from The Villages Charter School administration. All of our current elementary and middle school aged students that attend The Villages Charter School spent their summer selected campus choice as The Villages Charter School opened the brand new Middleton Campus. The Buffalo Stampeders is excited to partner with The Villages Charter School and use the fabulous new facilities at the Middleton Campus, as well as having the ability to continue to use the Buffalo Ridge Campus. This summer was spent full of youth sports camps, clinics, and practices - allowing our student-athletes to remain sharp in the off-season.
Speaking of history, the Buffalo Stampeders hit record participation numbers in Football and Cheer! We quickly reached maximum capacity for all teams 8U through 14U and our 6U team only had a few spots remaining. A bit of reflection on the growth of our organization: just four years ago we didn’t even have a 6U football team due to low turnout for participation. This is a testament to the continued hard work by our Football Directors, Todd Marion and Courtney Patterson, along with the Buffalo Stampeders Youth Football Club Board of Directors and our cheer director, Amber Henderson. We thank all of you for your continued belief and investment of time in our program.
This past July was FLAMING HOT…metaphorically and literally. On July 22nd, we hosted the 3rd Annual Buffalo Stampeders Sportsman Gala, where we hosted 3-time Olympic Gold Medalist in Beach Volleyball: Misty May-Treanor. We could not have found a more ideologically aligned keynote speaker as Misty May-Treanor is all about the youth’s participation in sports as a fundamental life-skills building experience. Misty was a humble and gracious guest, taking time out of her busy schedule to host At The Net w/ Misty May-Treanor, a volleyball skills clinic that had girls from grade 6 to 12 participating and learning directly from Misty. We’d like to thank Misty for spending the time personally meeting each girl at the clinic, taking pictures with them, and signing autographs. The Sportsman Gala this year was a huge success: raising $1.1 Million for the Buffalo Stampeders. Ultimately, that historic amount could not have been reached without our great community of parents, sponsors, and coaches that truly believe in “Investing In Our Future.” As we ended the Gala, the Buffalo Stampeders Board of Directors had one more surprise up our sleeves: the announcement of our guest speaker for the 2024 Sportsman Gala: Florida Gators legend, Tim Tebow!
The morning after the Gala, the Buffalo Stampeders partnered with The Villages Recreation Department to put on the “Battle of The Ages” charity softball event at the Buffalo Glen Softball Complex. Members of The Villages High School baseball and softball teams took to the diamond representing the Buffalo Stampeders taking on the Division 1 Men’s and Women’s All-Stars of The Villages Residents’ softball program. Together, we helped raise over $7000 for The Villages Honor Flight, an organization honoring the veterans of our Armed Forces. A local resident stepped up and matched the amount raised to bring the grand total to $15,000 for this wonderful organization. While our girls team lost to the Women’s All-Stars, Buffalo Stampeders athlete Dom Pittman hit a walk-off RBI double to propel our boys over the Men’s All-Stars.
As August rolled around, our organization hosted the first-ever Buffalo Stampeders Youth Rodeo at the Sumter County Fairgrounds. Rodeo is one of two new sports joining our organization and we look forward to growing another program for our local youth to participate in. The Youth Rodeo welcomed a few dozen athletes from across Florida, as well as a few hundred spectators to the performance portion of the event. It was a fun event meant for all ages as those that came out to the fairgrounds got to experience the tradition of the western ways of Rodeo as youth athletes and animals worked together to show off their skills in the arena!
The second sport the Buffalo Stampeders has added is Soccer, in partnership with USL League2 team: The Villages Soccer Club. Anderson Da Silva and his team have been running a successful soccer program in our community for over a decade and it seemed the timing was perfect for this partnership was to form to bring our organization’s reach with their experience and abilities.
Finally, let’s not forget about our 6th Annual Buffalo Stampeders Wrestling Club Cornhole Tournament being held on October 21st at Licciardello Farms in Summerfield, FL. Get your bag-tossing arms ready as this event is one you definitely don’t want to miss!
Again, a huge thanks to all of our supporters, sponsors, athletes, parents, and coaches. We wish all of you the best as we enter the last quarter of 2023 and we cannot wait to see what 2024 has in store for our organization!
Until next time, thank you for all of your support and helping us to continue to be Investing In Our Future!
