Believe it or not, there was actually a championship game held at Raymond James Stadium this year.
No, it had nothing to do with the Buccaneers, who were playing in Detroit at the time. Instead, the Dec. 7 Game Day of Champions was all about youth football. It wasn’t just one championship game, technically speaking, but this particular game involved none other than the Turkey Creek Trojans Varsity team.
“It was a blast,” head coach Casey McClain says.
Beating the Brandon Lions in the Tri-County Youth Football and Cheerleading Association Superbowl is what got the Trojans there. And even though the end result wasn’t what the team had hoped for, all players, coaches and fans were satisfied with the experience.
Normally, when a team wins the Superbowl or other conference championship game, it’s a ticket to Ray Jay. But, for the Trojans, there was still a bit of uncertainty. The team was notified that they’d be able to play just two days before the game, and McClain and his staff had to scramble to make sure every player could go.
But, they managed to get everyone on board, and the team made the trek to Tampa.
Several of the players had had prior experience with Game Day of Champions, having competed last year while on the junior varsity squad. As expected, they were cool customers about the trip. But, there were a few kids who hadn’t been before, not to mention McClain and every member of the coaching staff.
“Six or seven of those kids had already made that experience,” McClain says. “So, it really wasn’t nothing to them, but to see them come together for the other four kids that had never experienced it — that made it all worth it, for me.”
As for the coaches, they were no less excited than the kids who were there for the first time.
“It was an honor to be able to coach there,” McClain says. “It was an honor to see that facility, and be able to be like any other coach in the NFL and play on that level of a field.”
The team was given a tour of the Bucs’ facilities, and got to use the visitors’ locker room. Since the team was playing on the road, the players didn’t get to meet anybody famous — but, as cool as the rest of the experience was, that didn’t matter.
The Trojans ended up losing their game against the Nuccio Jaguars, 48-6, but no one was particularly upset with the loss. For McClain and his staff, just getting to Ray Jay and giving the kids that kind of experience was the best part of the 2014 season as a whole.
“It was an awesome experience,” McClain says. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”