Photo Courtesy of Scott Fitzgerald | On Thanksgiving day Brophy held its first Dutch Dukeout at Granada Park. The Dutch Dukeout is a flag football torunament where Brophy Alumni compete against each other.
By Juan Carlos Ramirez ’18
THE ROUNDUP
Current ASU students and alumni Sam Minton ’14, Scott Fitzgerald ’14 and Dylan Bryant ’14 organized and held the first Dutch Dukeout, a friendly flag football tournament between alumni and current Brophy students, Nov. 23 at Granada Park.
Every current or former brophy student who signed up had to pay an entry fee to participate in the tournament.
This event is not currently Brophy affiliated, but all the money raised is donated to the Brophy Scholarship Foundation.
Minton said that the main goal was to create an event where Brophy alumni and current students are able to come together and play flag football, catch up with old friends and embody the Brophy community.
“We had this idea that every year, current students and alumni — they know every Thanksgiving, they can come together,” Minton said. “When everyone is in town, they can count on coming in for a flag football tournament to raise money for the scholarship foundation because us three had a great experience at Brophy. We wanted to give back to the community that gave us so much.”
Minton said that they had a great turnout and foresee it to grow.
“We have a vision for this,” Minton said. “So for the first few years, I can anticipate that both Scott, Dylan and myself will kind of oversee it and will probably train some students below us. As we get older, we will pass it on to someone else. The biggest thing for all of us is that this continues to be a big tradition.”
Bryant said that their eventual goal is to have Brophy students or facultytake charge of this event.
“I would say our eventual goal is that we see student council or someone at Brophy taking over and making it an official Brophy event, besides it being an outside event,” Bryant said. “That would probably be the key factor because that goes with growth. We hope it could be as big as it possibly can be.”
The name of the event is in honor of the memory of the Rev. Harry “Dutch” Olivier, S.J. who was Brophy’s sports chaplain for 25 years.
“Fr. Olivier was very involved in the athletics,” Minton said. “He was our team chaplain when we played football. He would come to any sports games, no matter how late it was. He played such a huge role in all of our lives. So when he passed away a few years ago, he was the inspiration for this. That is why we call it the Dutch Dukeout.”
Cade Knox ’16, who currently plays for Harvard, said that he knew Fr. Olivier on a more personal level and knows that this event exemplifies Fr. Olivier’s values.
“This is definitely everything he loved about Brophy,” Knox said. “I mean he loved being able to see guys have fun, in a competitive spirit, going after each other with a smile while doing it.”
“I remember he use to go out there before our games on the line sideline and talk to me, tell me about a few of the guys he wanted me to beat on the other team,” he added. “This is definitely something he would have loved.”
Jonathan Tease ’07 said that Fr. Olivier would be proud of an event like the Dutch Dukeout.
“Honestly, I think he would be proud,” Tease said. “I am proud of the people who organized this event. It was well put together – well run. Like I said, he captures the Brophy spirit. So I am sure he is smiling down on us right now.”
Minor League baseball player Chad McClanahan ’16 said that this is the first time he has heard of an event like this, and it is a great way to catch up with many old friends.
“I really like being out here with all my friends,” McClanahan said. “Some of these guys, I haven’t even seen since high school. It’s been a while, but it’s good to be back.”
Aside from rekindling old friendships, some current students were able to get advice from some of the alumni.
Daniel Kraus ’19 said that he was able to receive words of wisdom from Tease who played for Brophy’s football program and was part of a state championship team.
“He has given us plenty of advice,” Krause said. “ I mean he knows the program. He has a lot to tell us. I really liked the advice he gave us, especially with the difficult times with our head coach resigning.”
Dartmouth punter Jack Katzman ’15 said that he feels that this event is what the phrase men for others stands for.
“We are trying to give back to the school and the Brophy community,” Katzman said. “Having it in his name [Fr. Olivier] is something that I think stands for all the values of being a man for others. I think that is a good part of this event.”
“I think it can only get bigger from this year,” he added. “We had a great turn out for the first year, and I think word will spread about how much fun it was and what a good thing it was — just being able to see and catch up with all these guys from high school that we aren’t as fortunate to see as much as we probably want to.”