On the GEFA Trail—The GEFA SEASON STADIUM REVIEW

Tagged under: GEFA, News

Guy Smith | August 3, 2024

2024 Episode 15. This Spring, Pam and I decided we were going to follow GEFA, the Great Eastern Football Association playing 8-main semi-pro ball, for the entire season. We didn’t commit to going to a game every week, but when we did go, we went to see different teams play each week. We never went all out to see them all, but we ended up pretty close, seeing 12 of the 15 game sites this season.

Eleven teams started the season, which meant eleven home fields. There were also three neutral sites run by the league: the Kickoff Classic, the Keystone Bowl, and the All-Star Game. Two teams played home games at two different sites. The Bedford County Buffaloes played one home game at their old home in Everett, and the Hazleton Mustangs played their final two games at the site of the Kickoff Classic.

GEFA is making strides to upgrade their facilities to include more enclosed stadiums. It’s giving the league a more professional look. Of the 15 sites, ten of them were high school or in one case a college, fields. The other five were at open parks. And one of the parks was for the Williamsport Wildcats, who played at Roundhouse Field. Williamsport was supposed to play their home games at the high school stadium, but had to delay that for a year based on renovation work taking place at the stadium. They are hopeful that they will be able to play there next season. And hopefully the league will continue to evolve so that an even higher percentage of teams are playing their games at enclosed stadiums.

Bedford County Buffaloes played at the new stadium for the Claysburg-Kimmel High School. Highlights there were great seating, a full working scoreboard, and the best announcer we heard all year. We did not get to see the Buffaloes’ alternate home field at Everett High School.

Dauphin County Comanche played at Koons Park. Of the four parks we attended, this one had the best setup. Plenty of parking, clean permanent restrooms, and far and away the most good seating of the open park fields. They also had a working scoreboard, but only for the score.

Berks County Raptors played at Exeter Township High School. This is the only regular season game we went to that charged admission. But it was worth it as this site had no downside. Great parking, scoreboard, restrooms, and announcer. They also had a refreshment stand with good food. This was the only game that had popcorn.

Hazleton Mustangs. They played at Gene Della Croce Memorial Field. Parking was limited and a bit of a steep walk to get to and from the field, and thus was the main drawback. They did have a good refreshment stand. Restrooms were adequate. Lawn chair seating recommended.

Wilkes-Barre Warriors. We went to see them the previous year at The Bog. This year they moved to play their games at the Exeter Panther Junior Football Association Field. The advantage over The Bog was permanent restrooms. There was no scoreboard, and the flip chart scoreboard used was placed in a location very hard to see. Parking was good. There were no concessions, a change from the year before where there was a food truck and the team had their own small stand. Lawn chair seating recommended.

Coal County Nightmare played at St. Clair Veteran’s Memorial Stadium. This is the home stadium for the Nativity BVM High School team. While it is set up to be a nice facility, it was spartan when we visited for GEFA, as they only had one person to work the scoreboard and there was no food or drink for sale.

Williamsport Wildcats were supposed to play at the high school but that fell through for the year and they played at a park called Roundhouse Field. This was another lawn chair recommended location. The big drawback there is the parking lot is tiny, although on-street parking is readily available. They had an amazingly good food truck at the game, but the truck owner said he wasn’t there all the time so that was hit or miss. Luckily, we hit.

The Moshannon Valley Vikings played at the Phillipsburg-Osceola Area High School “Old Stadium.” Although showing its age, this stadium basically had everything including good parking, restrooms, a refreshment stand, scoreboard, and a good announcer.

The last of the home fields we visited was for the Indiana County Crusaders. They played at Indiana Area High School. They also had just about everything needed, although the announcing was sporadic.

We didn’t make it to see the Monroeville Titans play, as they only played four games, two at their home field, before folding. Interestingly, we saw them play twice in person, the two games not played at home. We also didn’t make it to see the Somerset County Miners play. Their final three games were away and their home season ended before we realized it.

Our favorite overall home site for spectating was the Berks County Raptors field over the Moshannon Valley Vikings home. Of the park sites, The Dauphin County Comanche Koons Park was our favorite over the Williamsport Wildcats Roundhouse Field. Of the three neutral sites where the games were run by the league, we liked Central Columbia the best because they had two food trucks, including Deez Tacos, our favorite of the GEFA season. Of course, playing their championship at Kutztown University, an NCAA D2 program field, is a feather in the cap for the league.

In 2023 the league started their season with fourteen teams. This year they started with eleven. The Titans folded and the Raptors are no longer listed as one of the current teams on the league website. In the twenty-year history of the league, there have been nearly 80 teams, so teams coming and going is nothing new for GEFA. It will be interesting to see what season number 21 looks like for them.

We had a good time following GEFA this spring, and think they had a pretty good season, making some very positive strides off the field, as a league. The on-field product was not an issue, other than a lack of parity but what can be done about that?

Pam and I will return at the end of the month as the beginning of the high school season is just three weeks away. Feedback Welcome: rtryfbar@aol.com.

GUY & PAM 2024 SPRING/SUMMER FOOTBALL FINAL SCORECARD (21 Games)

GEFA: Kickoff Classic (Central Columbia High School, 3 Games)
GEFA: Bedford County Buffaloes (Claysburg-Kimmel High School)
GEFA: Dauphin County Comanche (Koons Park, Linglestown)
GEFA: Berks County Raptors (Exeter Township High School)
GEFA: Hazleton Mustangs (Gene Della Croce Memorial Field)
GEFA: Wilkes Barre Warriors (Exeter Panther Junior Football Assoc. Field)
GEFA: Coal County Nightmare (St. Clair Veteran’s Memorial Stadium)
GEFA: Williamsport Wildcats (Roundhouse Field)
GEFA: Moshannon Valley Vikings (Phillipsburg-Osceola Area High School “Old Stadium”)
GEFA: Indiana County Crusaders (Indiana Area High School)
GEFA: Keystone Bowl Championship (Kutztown University)
GEFA: All Star Game (Southern Columbia High School)

AIF Arena Football: Harrisburg Stampede (PA Farm Show Complex)

WFA Women’s Football—Harrisburg Havoc (Palmyra High School)

High School: Schuylkill / Colonial All Star Game (North Schuylkill High School)
High School: PSFCA Small School All Star Game (Cumberland Valley High School)
High School: PSFCA Big School All Star Game (Cumberland Valley High School)
High School: PSFCA Big 33 (Cumberland Valley High School)
High School: Scranton Lions City vs. County Dream Game (Valley View High School)

Missed. GEFA: Somerset County Miners, Monroeville Titans (team folded), Bedford County Buffaloes (played one game at alternate home field in Everett). WFA: Harrisburg Havoc @ McCaskey High School (last minute site change).

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