ArenaBowl Weekend Special For Sabercats' Families
July 19, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 19, 2007) - As the San Jose SaberCats prepare for ArenaBowl XXI in New Orleans on July 29 (ESPN on ABC, 12 noon PT), so are the families and friends that will make the trip to the Crescent City to cheer on their favorite Arena Football League team.
Many of the players will be returning to the South where they grew up and live during the offseason, but others haven't ventured towards the bottom of the North American map as often.
"This will be the first time my family has visited New Orleans so it should be a great weekend," stated James Roe, who will be accompanied by his wife, three children, mother and a few friends.
Roe's family will be flying into the Big Easy from Richmond, Va., where they reside, and besides the possibility of an ArenaBowl victory, will be celebrating an important birthday on Sunday the 29th.
Roe's eldest daughter, LaChyna, might be wishing for her dad to catch at least one touchdown pass in the AFL title game versus the Columbus Destroyers, but then again, she might just want what any other girl would want on her 10th birthday.
"It's going to be kind of hard because we aren't going to be able to do a party for her," confessed Roe, who also has a 13-year old son named James and a younger daughter named Ziyan with his wife, Rene. "She hasn't told me what she wants yet and we haven't really decided what we're going to do for her down there, but once we get back home we'll have a more traditional birthday party."
Roe's daughter and the SaberCats might not be the only people rejoicing that Sunday afternoon either. San Jose's defensive lineman George Williams has a daughter whose track team will also have championship aspirations the last weekend in July.
"My daughter Amber will be running in the Junior Olympics during our game," said Williams, who boasts a large family with his wife, Rachel, consisting of five boys, a girl and eight dogs back in Fayetteville, N.C.
Twelve-year-old Amber Cason and the Fayetteville Flyers will be competing in the 2007 USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships in Walnut, Calif., July 27-29. Amber wasn't able to see her father play against Chicago because her team was qualifying for the Nationals at a Regional meet in Virginia on July 14.
"The grandparents are going with Amber to California and everyone else is coming to New Orleans. Those little girls are really fast...they just zip around the track like nobody's business," exclaimed Williams.
The Flyers qualified for the 4 x 400 meters relay and Amber will be running in the 400- and 800-meter dashes. She ran the quarter-mile in just over 65 seconds at the Regional and her team finished 3rd in the relay with a time of 4:29:15.
More than 6,000 participants, ages 8-18, are expected to converge at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in hopes of becoming America's next generation of elite track and field athletes.
Perhaps the Williams' family can bring home two championships that day, and LaChyna Roe will experience a 10th birthday in New Orleans that she can cherish forever.
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from July 19, 2007
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- Destroyers to Meet Sabercats in ArenaBwol XXI - San Jose SaberCats
- ArenaBowl Weekend Special For Sabercats' Families - San Jose SaberCats
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