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Part-Time Gladiators - Page 2
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 The EFL is senior of the two New England leagues and had teams in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island during the 2001 season. The EFL also claims to be the oldest surviving amateur football league in the country. The league is split into two different divisions and has inter-divisional games throughout the season. A few of the teams in the EFL have been around for decades but the best known of the bunch is the Marlboro Shamrocks of Marlborough, Massachusetts. The Shamrocks are the juggernaut of the EFL and have made winning league championships commonplace. On top of dominating their league, the Shamrocks usually go deep into post season play outside of the EFL and have won various national titles.
The start of Marlboro’s season begins on the practice field of a local school. As the players begin to show up there is no indicator that this is one of semi-pro football’s premier teams. They walk onto the field wearing shirts from NFL, college and high school football teams ranging from brand new to barely holding together. When practice starts it all becomes much more regimented. Many of the players have been with Shamrocks for years and the whole process is routine to them. The scant numbers of new players seem to quickly catch on. The coaches need only say a few words to keep the practice running like a well-oiled machine. As the evening progresses they move from stretching and warm-up exercises to going through plays and contact drills. After running through plays for about fifteen minutes a few drops of rain start to fall. At first the rain has little effect upon the practice, then it turns into a deluge. The coaches are happy with what they’ve seen during the evening and decide to call off the practice. The majority of the team slowly heads towards the parking lot as they talk with one another about the season ahead. Two of the kickers hang around just a little bit longer to practice kicking a wet ball. In the parking lot players quickly strip out of their pads and toss their equipment into the back of their vehicles. Some go home but a few, oblivious to the rain, talk with the coaching staff for awhile.
When Marlboro hits the field later in the summer they will be move through the season with the same result as in years past. They have a surprise loss to Mass Havoc, a team based in Lynn, Massachusetts, but otherwise it’s the same old act for the Shamrocks. When the season and playoffs are over the Shamrocks again own their league’s title and go all the way to one of the semi-pro national title games where they lose. The constant success of the Shamrocks can be directly attributed to two factors. They aggressively recruit from colleges and high schools in the area and the door is always open for the best players to come join them. As long time head coach and current general manager Bob Brennan said, the only criteria to play for the Shamrocks is "you have to be good."
 There is no shortage of good players on the Shamrocks. Since teams are not supposed to pay players at this level of football, although rumors are always flying around the leagues that some do, the best way to attract good players is to win. Success is the currency that allows the Shamrocks to attract the best players and dominate their league, in much the same way that money allows the New York Yankees to dominate in baseball. On top of that the players on the Shamrocks know that they have to perform or someone else will take their place. They go to practices, support the team and show up at games in great enough numbers to allow the team to perform at it’s peak whether at home or away. This cannot be said for all of the teams in the two New England leagues.
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