For those of you who are new to the program or just wondered how this all started, here is a short (and by no means complete) synopsis of The Scarborough Football Club.
1997: Early in the year, a group of Scarborough parents met to discuss a way to make football a reality in this town. From those discussions emerged the Scarborough Football Club (SFC), a volunteer group of parents and supporters who began with a strong desire, a willingness to work hard and a dream of what is now a reality.
That fall, the SFC organized and privately funded a middle school-age program. The response was tremendous. Home games quickly became an event, attracting crowds of more than 400. And the team, with the majority of its players new to football, surprised everyone by advancing to the Southern Maine Youth Football League playoffs.
1998: The program grew to include a school-sanctioned junior varsity program at the high school level, bringing competitive football to Scarborough High School for the first time. Other successes during the 1998 season included a championship football team at the 8th grade level (7-0 in the regular season), and a traveling cheerleading competition team. Participation continued to increase.
1999: The program expanded again in the fall of 1999, this time in two directions. Scarborough fielded its inaugural high school varsity team, which finished with a winning record as part of the Instructional League, and offered football to 4th and 5th graders, who joined Scarborough’s 6th-grade players in the competitive Portland league.
2000: The new millennium brought more change. The high school varsity moved up to play a full Class C schedule, going head-to-head with some of Maine’s traditional football powers. The team continued to find success, finishing with an 8-1 record. Also, the 4th, 5th and 6th-grade players joined with Old Orchard Beach and Windham to form the new Maine Sportsmanship League Primary Division.
2001: This year brought the fledgling program its greatest challenge yet. The high school varsity was now eligible for the state playoffs in Class B, fulfilling the SFC’s long-held desire to give the original core of 8th-grade players back in 1997 a chance to compete for a state championship. We know they’ve earned the opportunity.
The Scarborough High School football team ended a storybook season in 2001 just one win shy of the Maine Class B state championship. The Middle School football team – 2nd Place winner – lost in the SMYFL Championship game against Gorham. The middle school varsity team did accomplish its goal – which was to score upon the unbeaten Gorham all season. SFC has come along way in just six years.
2002: After four seasons of Varsity football, Scarborough Red Storm won the coveted the State Championship title in November 2002. Local coaching legend Jack Flynn resigned after guiding the team, beating Belfast 14-12 at Fitzpatrick Stadium on that cold November evening. Jack Flynn oversaw the development of the school’s varsity program. The JV and the dominating Freshman team also had successful records last year.
2003: This season marked the team’s entrance into the SMAA Conference with a new head coach, Eric Klein.
It was marked by hard lessons as the team found their enthusiasm tested under the adversity of Class A competition.
Despite the disappointing 0-8 season, the players all displayed a high level of morale and always played their best to maintain the spirit of sportsmanship.
2004: As SHS enters its second season in Class A football, a sweet victory was had on 9/3/04 in their first game against Westbrook. This will be a memorable “W”- as it is their first one in Class A.
2005: SHS entered its third season in Class A and finished with 2-6 season. The highlight of this season was when the Red Storm traveled to the Waterhouse Field – Home of Biddeford Tigers- a long time powerhouse in Maine football. It was a muddy and exciting win.
