Soul Bowl At Blue Wahoos Stadium Continues Growing Its Community Impact
From its origin decades ago on a community park field, the Soul Bowl has gone grand. It has transcended its place as a defining finish to a youth football season between two ultra-competitive leagues in Pensacola into something much bigger in scope. And the growth continues. “I think it seems
From its origin decades ago on a community park field, the Soul Bowl has gone grand.
It has transcended its place as a defining finish to a youth football season between two ultra-competitive leagues in Pensacola into something much bigger in scope.
And the growth continues.
“I think it seems to get bigger every year. It’s become a real event. And I’d say it’s a strong as ever,” said Lumon May, the long-time executive director of the Southern Youth Sports Association.
On Saturday, the SYSA Tigers and East Pensacola Rattlers will stage the 32nd annual Soul Bowl at Blue Wahoos Stadium, which has hosted the event since 2012 when the bayfront stadium first opened.
There will be five age-division games beginning at 9 a.m. There is a “Unity Circle” ceremony scheduled after the third game to celebrate the community gathering together with elected officials and law enforcement leaders.
Thursday, final preparations at Blue Wahoos Stadium included installation of goal posts and lining the field as it converts into a football setting.
“The Soul Bowl within the inner city of Pensacola is like a holiday,” said May, who is also part of the Escambia County board of county commissioners. “But you could not have experienced this if you did not have the facility like Blue Wahoos Stadium.
“There’s a direct correlation our growth and playing at Blue Wahoos Stadium. People buy their shirts, plan their outfits to wear for this game. It’s almost like going to a historically black college football game.
“Like, say, Hampton vs. Howard. I go the Grambling-Southern game almost every year …we barely watch football…we socialize and have fellowship and that’s what this has event has become.”
When Blue Wahoos Stadium was into its first season 12 years ago, May meant with team owner Quint Studer. The two had known each other since in 1996 when Studer was president/CEO of Baptist Hospital and they had a chance meeting in a elevator one day.
Since that point, Quint and Rishy Studer, along with the Blue Wahoos front office staff have helped organize and host the Soul Bowl.
The event had been held throughout various football venues in the city, including Legion Field – home of the SYSA Tigers and Magee Field, the East Pensacola Rattlers home field.
Pensacola Catholic High’s Goreck-LeBeau stadium and Jim Scoggins Stadium at Pensacola High also were past host sites.
“I give Quint the credit, he had a vision of making this a big event. He saw what this could do,” May said. “It may have just been a football game without Blue Wahoos Stadium and the Community Maritime Park. Now, it’s an event for the African American community throughout Pensacola.
“It is huge with the ‘Covenant for the Community’ that Quint helped create. We have drawn local and statewide politicians to this event, along with many business owners.
“We probably would not of had that kind of fellowship if we had it at Magee or Legion Field. It would have been way too small and we had outgrown those two places anyway.”
One of the other reasons the Soul Bowl has prospered is participation among the youth players continues to be strong. May said the number of players at SYSA has grown enough to expand its league.
There has been a generational support for the Soul Bowl with former players now fathers coaching their sons or grandsons. In several cases there are three generations of a family involved in the Soul Bowl like Reggie Smith Sr. and Reggie Smith Jr. and their families all involved.
“We couldn’t pay for the man hours for all these volunteer coaches and what they do,” May said. “These coaches give back, because they remember that someone gave back to them when they were a kid. So now, they are out coaching and it’s amazing to see.”
The Soul Bowl is now more than just one day, one event. It is a week-long celebration that began last Sunday with “Soul Bowl Sunday” at the Greater Little Rock Baptist Church in Pensacola that included a church service and kickball game among adults from the two teams’ organizations.
There have been other activities this week. On Saturday, there will be tables and information areas outside Blue Wahoos Stadium to help bring awareness of various services that fans attending the game might not be aware of within the community.
“This has been a true collaborative effort,” May said. “And it has done so much for our community.”
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: 32st Annual Soul Bowl Youth Football Event
WHO: Southern Youth Sports Association (SYSA) Tigers vs. East Pensacola-Magee Field Rattlers.
WHEN: Saturday. Five age-division games: 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Wahoos Stadium
ADMISSION: $11 per-person in advance, $14 on Saturday before 4 p.m., $19 after 4 p.m. General admission seating (no reserved seats). Children 3-under are free.
PARKING: $10.
INFO: www.bluewahoos.com/soulbowl.
IMPORTANT NOTES: The stadium is a cashless venue. Also, no chairs, no beverage coolers, no outside food or beverages are permitted inside the stadium.