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Ralph F. D’Andrea, Jr.
October 27, 1957 – August 4, 2004
Find a patch of grass, pull together some friends, throw in a football, and you have a football game. Add a few more friends and you have the cheerleaders. These simple ingredients made up the formula for success for Ralph D’Andrea in which he inspired countless children, parents and adults to get involved, give it their best, all in an effort to make Central Mass Youth Football & Cheerleading one of the finest organizations around. Involved with Central MA first as a Bartlett H.S. football player in Webster, MA, for many years Ralph held a variety of positions as a parent, coach, association president and culminating with the position of President of the Central Mass YFC Conference from 1999 to his passing.  It didn’t take long for anyone who came in contact with Ralph to figure out “to know Ralph was to know football”. A simple conversation with him would transport you to the sidelines of many a game, practice, as well as notable youth camps and clinics, such as the Joe Namath Camp/Clinic. It didn’t make a difference which level of play…youth, high school, college or the pros…football was football. As a season ticket holder since 1977 of his beloved New England Patriots, it didn’t take long to notice his seat at Gillette Stadium, which has a plaque that bears his name, located in the second row. No, it didn’t take long to notice he was never far from a patch of grass, not far from friends, fun, football and kids.

Ralph is sadly missed by all those who knew him, but he will forever remain in our hearts and memories and we will always hear him tell us not to ever forget… “It’s 4 The Kids”!