Doug Flutie Festival is Rapidly Approaching

The Doug Flutie Festival supporting Autism Awareness is a little more then a week away (Sunday, November 20th), and this is an event that promises to be one of the best festivals at Plymouth in recent memory.

This past Tuesday, I went down to visit Eileen Bennett, who is the professor of the Sport's Marketing class at Plymouth. Upon learning a little bit more about the event (more on that in a little bit), I saw some of the things that are going to be raffled off at the event, and all of it is awesome stuff that any Boston sports fan will enjoy.

While this event is focused on the appearance of Flutie coming to Plymouth, the whole reason behind the former NFL quarterback coming to our school is to raise money for Autism Awareness. Within the United States alone, one out of a hundred children either have been diagnosed or will have autism. Flutie's son, whose name is also Doug, unfortunately suffers from Autism. The Doug Flutie Autism Awareness has been around for approximately ten years, Flutie himself has hosted different golf events, as well as running the Boston Marathon.

I can tell that this event is going to be special, and Professor Bennett and myself were talking about what the day is going to be like. "I expect five to six hundred people to be at the event," said Bennett. "This event isn't only for people that go to the school (Plymouth State University), but also for everyone within the community. The punt, pass, and kick competition will feature some of the students within Plymouth's elementary, middle and high school." On top of the punt, pass, and kick competition, there will also be a 5K running race as well as a flag football tournament. The 5k features to be one of the highlights of the event, as the winner will receive a free flying lesson. The flag football tournament will also be quite intense, as college students will get to see which combination of players will succeed. The cost of the flag football tournament is $5 per person, and all of the money raised from the players that are participating in the game go towards Flutie's awareness of Autism. Rumor has it Flutie also wants to participate within the flag football games, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever seen Flutie play football.

Aside from all of the sports related event that the 20th features, everyone should remember what the event is for and that is for the Awareness of Autism.  Different things that are going to be raffled off include autographed pictures of Boston athletes (I am not going to say who, as it should come as a surprise to you), as well as different things that Flutie himself signed. This is an event that everyone within the Plymouth community should come down and check out and will feature something for the whole family. As far as a schedule goes, the 5k is supposed to start at approximately 10 A.M., while Doug himself should arrive at about noon.  Be sure to assemble your team within the coming days, and see you in 9 days!