The Largest Youth Football & Cheer Organization in the Country

Two young players deliver a life lesson for Southern Dutchess Packers

 By Marty Gitlin

Special to AmericanYouthFootball.com

The mission that drives American Youth Football delves far beyond learning and playing the game.

The experience for coaches and players is a life lesson. The folks on the Southern Dutchess Packers in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., which rests halfway between New York City and Albany, understand that particularly well.

Why? Because two kids named Peter have opened their eyes and touched their hearts.

Peter Carellini plays center for the sixth-grade team despite a prosthetic leg. Teammate Peter Headley plays on the defensive line despite being legally deaf. And both have displayed an inspirational attitude.

"There are so many different emotions I feel when I think of those two kids," says Packers president and coach John Corbett. "You think of all your problems, but the two Peters give you get a much better perspective and you see what you've taken for granted in your life.

"You see them running around and it just chokes you up inside. And the other kids on the team really feed off them. You see the two Peters hustling and they look at the kid next to them and they want to try harder."

A birth defect robbed Carellini from the knee down, yet he played lacrosse through much of his childhood. He does nothing to disguise his handicap.

"Peter showed up the first day of practice and I knew right away who he was because the prosthetic leg had a colorful design on it," Corbett says. "He was not hiding anything. I set up an obstacle course and he started running some drills. I was hesitant, but Peter stayed right with all the kids. I started thinking 'this kid has more heart than anyone here.'

"I started feeling guilty as a coach after he ran the obstacle course. I said 'Peter, do you want to be fitted for a helmet?' And he said 'let me finish the drills first.' The other kids were complaining that they were thirsty, but Peter went back in line and did it again and again. He was a little awkward, but he made it through every time. Now when I watch Peter, I get welled up once in a while."

Corbett also recalls his first encounter with Headley. He immediately took note of his significant size and became excited at the notion of Headley playing for his sixth grade team.

The coach tried to strike up a conversation, but Headley didn't react. That's when his mother explained that he's totally deaf in one ear and significantly hearing impaired in the other. He hears nothing without his hearing aid. She requested that coaches talk loudly while looking in his direction.

"The coaches started using Peter as a center, but as a center you have to hear all the calls and snap the ball at the proper time," Corbett explains. "I started thinking we'd have to use him on defense so he could look at the ball. But before I could say 'he can't play there,' I heard a 'hike' and he snapped the ball.

"As it turned out, the other players knew Peter and they used a system on the school playgrounds where the quarterback gave him a little tap and that's how he knew when to snap the ball. We have since moved him to the defensive line because he's a monster on defense."

Corbett soon learned that Headley can "kick the ball a country mile," so he also uses him on kickoffs and field goal attempts.

Both Peters would have been too large to compete on the sixth grade team in the organization where Southern Dutchess team had been housed before this season. Unrestricted weight classes is one of several reasons why Corbett is so pleased at the switch to American Youth Football.

"The switch to (American Youth Football) has been very successful," he says. "The new program has enabled a lot of kids to play who normally would not have the chance an opportunity to play."

That includes the two Peters. And that has touched the hearts of everyone associated with the Southern Dutchess Packers.