Wayne Snelbaker, head coach of the Dover Area High School football team, has brought a new tradition in the hopes of building his team and honoring members of the military. Each player was given a dog tag with the name of someone who was killed from the armed services. Players wear their dog tags before every game and hang them up before kick-off. 

Snelbaker said, “We used to hand out links. Our motto was that you are only as strong as your weakest link… I thought we would do something different. With the military being close, and the dog tag representing a team I thought it would be great implementing that with our team.”

Senior Kaden Crone said, “The dog tags represent the fact that we are playing for way more than just ourselves and that they are a reminder of the freedom we have.” Crone, as well as some other players, are planning on joining the service after high school. The dog tags represent more than just the soldiers but the player’s future as well

Senior Drake Kosky agrees. “For the football team it really enforces that sense of brotherhood that a football team needs to succeed.” Team bonding is very important for any sports team. Kosky believes this brought the team together. “I know right after the practice we got them a lot of players went home and researched their soldiers and learned their story.” 

Crone stated, “I think it’s a cool way to bring the team together while at the same time honoring soldiers that were killed in action.” 

Kosky said, “I would just like to thank my father, Tim Kosky, for being able to make it happen as well as the army recruiter, Adam Cataldi, and of course the whole coaching staff for allowing it all to happen.” 

The dog tags are a great way to build team chemistry, and remind the players of those we’ve lost. Snelbaker added, “I am hoping this will be a tradition that will stay with us for a long time.”