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08/05/2021 12:00 AMDave Donle has proven a key part of the North Haven football tradition. Dave is the commissioner of the North Haven flag football program for children entering kindergarten through grade 3. Dave has also been a member of the board for the past four years. The deadline for registration for the fall flag football season is Tuesday, Aug. 10, and Dave is eager to see teams compete after a year layoff.
During Dave’s time as commissioner, the league’s enrollment has expanded, growing from four teams to six teams in total. Dave handles a great deal of the day-to-day operations of the program, and even though its a lot of work, Dave considers all that effort a labor of love.
“I coached as an assistant when my brother-in-law, Jeff, was involved many moons ago. Ten years later I was involved as an assistant, then a head coach, and then entered the board four years ago through Sal DeMayo, who is the current president,” says Dave. “I’m involved in everything from soup to nuts. I secure the sponsors with the help of Val Keroga, the sponsorship coordinator of the board. I order jerseys, secure fields, officials, and promotion. When I took over, we had four teams. We’ve increased enrollment 30 to 40 percent, and we’ve expanded to six teams.”
Dave’s philosophy for the program is to try to provide the best competition possible for the participants so that they can become the best competitors they can be. One of the driving factors for that outlook is the fact that Dave has four children, three of whom are going through the program, as well. Dave wants the best for all kids in the program just as he does for his own children, Austin, Jackson, Colton, and Preston.
“For my children, I always want them to have the highest level of competition. Steel sharpens steel. The more children and better athletes that are involved, the better it is for everyone. The program has been so blessed with Dave Mikos who had been president for over 20 years, up until last year and Anthony Sagnella,” says Donle. “They made sure the youth and high school programs were joined and everything would trickle down to the lower level. It’s a tight-knit family, and they’ve allowed me to continue to grow the program.”
The methodology behind the program is to use flag football as a means to introduce kids to the sport of football and the ways to play the game the right way. That way as athletes progress to the youth program and the North Haven High School team, they play the game safely and with proper regard for coaches, officials, opponents and teammates.
“We have an offseason coaching clinic where all the coaches get together. This past year was done through Zoom because of COVID. We want to develop coaches and get our principals the same. The person in charge of coaching development this year is Nick DeAngelo. He’s on the board and the high school staff. He’s partnered with a lot of coaches and worked on development in coaching for flag and for tackle,” says Dave. “We are teaching the kids the right way and how to play the game safely. North Haven takes safety so seriously. We give kids guardian caps. We make sure everyone is safely equipped.”
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, competing safely has looked completely different than it used to. That meant canceling the season last year, but this year everyone’s ready to get back out on the gridiron. The league had a dry run for the upcoming season during offseason workouts.
“We tried to prepare as much as we could in hopes of having a season, but we couldn’t last year. We worked with Diamond Zone in town for a space for an offseason workout,” Dave says. “We adhered to all the CDC guidelines with masking, distancing, and number of participants. Brett Bradanini was great in being clear in communicating all of those guidelines.”
The format of the league has larger teams than would normally be seen in a standard 7-on-7 flag football contest. Also, in tandem with the football games, the Mighty Mite program helps cheerleaders learn their sport alongside the football squads.
“We do 11-on-11, and there are currently 80 kids signed up for the coming season. We have about 14 players per team, so that works out to about three subs. We play at Gateway, and it’s almost mass hysteria at the field when the games are happening,” Dave says. It’s six teams and three games. With hundreds of kids there between football, cheerleading, and spectators. Nicole Fitzgerald is the head of the cheerleading program this year.”
Football has drawn discerning eye when it comes to competing safely, and that’s further complicated with the emergence of COVID. Dave knows that he has a fantastic group around him to help everyone stay safe this year. Dave also thanks his wife Laura, whose support has been paramount for him.
“There are so many people that have been instrumental in the program’s success. It’s been amazing. People just volunteer hours of their time. It’s rewarding seeing that along with my passion and wanting to expand the program. My goal was to have eight teams, but COVID really threw a wrench in that,” Dave says. “I think that like so many people that have been dealing with the pandemic, there are people who are apprehensive, but there are a lot of people who also want to be out there. So many things we did pre-2020, we now take for granted. We had 60 kids show up to a voluntary mini camp on Tuesday and the same numbers on Wednesday. People are excited, and I’m excited.”