Going into this year’s football season, Argo Varsity Football continued one of its longest traditions: the weekly team dinner held in the new TLC the night before each game. What you may think of as a simple gathering is a deeper event that transforms teammates into family, turning bonds on the field into brotherhood off the field.
“I really like team dinners. Parents helping out, culinary helping out, everyone helping out. Good food overall,” Quarterback Chance Sanders said.
Senior lineman Jack Gains also shared what the team dinners meant to him.
“Brings a lot of chemistry to the team, brings a lot of focus and a lot of brotherhood,” Gaines said.
Argo’s football players all had the same opinion that these weekly team dinners bring them closer in chemistry on and off the field.
“They all have my back; it’s a good community. These times are family times for us,” Lineman Keshawn Hollis said.
While practices and games are critical, the quieter moments spent sharing a meal offer something different.
“We all sit together; we all talk together; we all eat together; we have to conversate; no one is on their phone,” Sanders said.
Tradition has always been an important part of sports, and for Argo, this one is about more than pasta. For head coach Rossberg, it’s something he experienced himself.
“Definitely something I did growing up when I was in high school, and it’s great that we’re able to kind of carry this on,” Coach Rossberg said.
As the season continues, the dinners remain what makes Argo football a community. The food fuels the players before the game, and it’s the bond that carries them onto the field with each other. Each dinner is another step in turning teammates into lifelong friends.
“Those little things do go a long way with making relationships and those connections, and it’s more of a team,” Coach Rossberg said.
With those little things, Argo players see something new and meet a side of their teammates they may have never known before.
“It brings you closer together. I feel it gets you out of the locker room. Out of the practice field. That’s something different. You get to see people in a different light,” Coach Rossberg said.
