By Lorenzo Recupero
Beginning Friday, August 19 at 4 o’clock Everett High School Crimson Tide football and third-year coach Robert DiLoreto will set out for another season with nothing less than championship aspirations.
Strapped with a fresh young core and a tidal wave of emotion on their side, coach DiLoreto is looking forward to getting the football season underway.
“We gotta be on point every minute of our practice sessions. We graduated a lot of seniors, so we are just focusing on the excitement of being able to be back out on the field and starting a
new season fresh,” said DiLoreto, who graduated a total of 32 seniors, including 10 moving on to play football at the collegiate level. “They left a legacy behind with high standards for these young kids coming in to step up and fill in their shoes,” he said.
Unfortunately for DiLoreto and the players, the offseason did not arrive without adversity as the entire Crimson Tide family was forced to collectively bare the loss of recent Everett High graduate Fabieri Fabert, who died tragically in a swimming accident in June. The swirling emotions have added an extra layer of motivation, according to DiLoreto, who plans to honor Fabert during the season.
“Fabs memory will always be alive in our hearts. It’s been a difficult summer of dealing with the grief of losing a loved one part of the Everett football family. He’s a source of inspiration for his entire team and we will be playing for him this year no doubt,” said DiLoreto. Fabert will have his own locker and his jersey number 18 will not be used this season in his honor.
Leading up to the regular season, the Tide will hold conditioning practices and gradually work up to pads. Practices, at Veterans Memorial, are open for residents to attend during preseason.
“It’s nice to see all the excitement in the city for fall sports. We embrace it and we will do our best to complete the mission and represent Everett as proudly as we can,” said DiLoreto.