District dinner program gave Woodrow Wilson football big boost during championship run

Brandon Bather plans to order some extra sectional championship rings this year.

The Woodrow Wilson football team captured its third consecutive title with a 28-6 triumph over Rumson-Fair Haven in the Central Jersey Group 3 final on Nov. 19, but the Tiger head coach doesn’t believe it would’ve been possible without the program’s secret weapons – the high school’s cafeteria workers.

The Tigers got three meals a day during the summer and receive dinner every weeknight after practice as part of the district’s dinner program, which is available to afterschool teams and clubs that offer academic programming or assistance to students.

The team spends its evenings eating and watching film together, which has enhanced the player's nutrition, helped the kids put on muscle and maintain weight, and improved camaraderie.

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“It feels good to be able to have a good meal after every practice,” sophomore safety Eric Lee said. “The team loves it. We hype for it every day.”

Bather and former head coach Preston Brown had talked about asking for post-practice meals for several years but believed the district didn’t have the funding or resources to make it happen.

“We’d always think the school wouldn’t allow us to do anything like that,” Bather said.

The dinner program has been in place for years though, said Arlethia Brown, the senior director of school nutrition, and the district was more than happy to make it happen.

“The team over at Woodrow, they always tell me I rock, but at the end of the day, they rock,” she said. “We are definitely putting students first and definitely providing opportunities for students. While they represent themselves and the community, all we could do is hold them up and provide standard and sustainable efforts to make sure they have what they need.

“I’m grateful for my role to support and give and have a community that will allow us to provide them a service.”

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The Tigers are grateful too.

“It’s very important,” senior linebacker Damir McCrary said. “Sometimes you don’t know what the young men have going on at their house. Them providing food, that takes something off their shoulders so they know after a good, hard work of practice they can eat afterward.”

During previous seasons, assistant coach Rob Davis would do some cooking or players would go get food at the store after practice and bring it back for film. However, some wouldn’t return.

“It gives them time to sit down and we get that fellowship for a while and then watch the tape,” Bather said. “We don’t have to worry about guys running to get some food. … We’d have to be here to 9 o’clock. We’d have to wait on everybody.”

Now, meals are planned so the Tigers are getting nutrients at the optimal time following practice.

“Those proteins and carbohydrates go right back in the body and can accept it,” Bather said. “It’s science.”

Woodrow Wilson players have usually lost weight during the football season due to the rigors of practice and games. This year has been the opposite, helping them thrive late in the campaign.

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“You can see it on their bodies,” Bather said. “You can see it. You just check the numbers, the weight from the beginning of the year to now, everyone is around the same or more.”

And then there’s the unity the team has built.

“We always been brothers, but it made our bond closer,” senior running back Naz’Sir Oglesby said.

Bather and his players believe the hard work of the district staff has paid huge dividends this fall, and hope that continues Saturday night when they take on Cedar Creek in the South/Central Regional Final at Rutgers. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

“Everybody gets a ring,” Bather said. “The cafeteria ladies, the janitor, the cook, everybody. It’s a real program.”

Brown and her staff are just excited to play a part in their success.

“I think we’ve learned that these types of opportunities are truly a benefit,” Brown said, “because guess what, the Tigers won. They won. They won that championship and I’m grateful to be part of a team that is there to support that team and to make sure they have what they need to get to the end of the road to a victory.”

Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Woodrow Wilson football got big boost from district dinner program