Thursday, October 1, 2026
Under the bright lights of MetLife Stadium, a group of 8-year-olds from Lynbrook and East Rockaway stepped onto the turf normally reserved for NFL players — and, for a moment, the magnitude of the stadium swallowed them whole.
There’s a moment that coach Mike Pelizzi keeps replaying. The players jog onto the field in two neat lines and then, all at once, lose focus. Their heads tilt back, their eyes run up the towering seating bowl, and the awe washes over them.
“It was amazing to play with my teammates against friends from the other team at MetLife Stadium — a day I’ll never forget,” said Colin Kennedy, 8.
The scrimmage between the Lynbrook Titans and the East Rockaway Raiders came together through a simple mid-summer text — one coach reaching out to another, asking if anyone would be interested in scrimmaging on an NFL field. For the adults, it was a logistical challenge. For the kids, it was magic.
Assistant cheer director Maria Higgins said the moment the offer surfaced, there was no hesitation.
“This opportunity came about — we just had to jump on it,” she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these kids to be able to do that.”
Higgins, who has coached the same group of girls since they were five, called it “indescribable” to watch them cheer on the sidelines of an NFL stadium. “As a mom… I could cry just thinking about it,” she said. “It was definitely… a core memory moment.”
The 8-year-old cheerleaders were already coming off their annual Cheer Night, team photos, and a packed weekend of routines — but nothing prepared them for the energy of a professional stadium. Parents sitting in real stadium seating joined the interactive chants.
“We say, ‘Titans, you say go!’” Higgins said. “It was very cute that the parents were interacting with us as well… it was a really great experience.”
According to Pelizzi, the New York Jets require youth teams to sell 120 tickets to secure field time. At first, they weren’t sure they could hit the number. Then came a simple solution: include the cheerleaders. Their addition pushed the Titans far past the requirement.
Still, transporting dozens of families across state lines required planning.
“It was a lot of preparation,” Pelizzi said. Families bought tickets, pooled money, and eventually coordinated two full coach buses — one for cheer, one for football. Parents organized a potluck tailgate that ballooned into a massive mix of dishes from families across the program.
“It was unbelievable, the amount of different food we had,” Pelizzi said. “It was nice for the coaches to actually hang out with the parents more than just be on the field with the kids.”
Both coaches said the community support was overwhelming. Higgins described a parking-lot call time before sunrise, families loading strollers and coolers, and a tailgate that felt like a professional game day.
“Really, a huge shout-out goes out to every family member that supported the ‘eights are great’ team,” she said.
The Titans and Raiders share a natural youth-football rivalry. But on this day, Pelizzi said, that disappeared.
“It wasn’t competitive,” he explained. With only 30 minutes of field time — 15 minutes on offense, 15 on defense — coaches on both sidelines focused on getting as many kids on the field as possible, even rotating players into positions they’d never tried before.
East Rockaway’s coaches “were great,” Pelizzi said. “We were working with each other to try to get as many kids on the field as we can.”
For Lynbrook’s families, the moment the boys emerged from the tunnel — music blasting, cheerleaders lining the sideline — cemented the day as something beyond a youth scrimmage.
“I stood back at one point and I just took it all in,” Higgins said. “I said, ‘Oh my God… this is happening. We’re here. This is crazy.’”
Parents sent messages for days afterward. Kids asked before they left the stadium whether they would do it again next year.
Monica Kennedy, who helped coordinate the event, called it “an incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity for the kids.”
Both Higgins and Pelizzi said they hope the trip becomes an annual tradition.
“We are Titans, we are family,” Higgins said. “For the eights especially, this experience really brought us all together as a family… It truly did not only unite the boys and girls on the field, but us as parents in the stands.”
Pelizzi agreed.
“It was such a good experience. I’d love for the community to hear about it,” he said.
For now, the memory stands: a professional field, a shared rivalry put on pause, and a group of eight-year-olds who, for one afternoon, felt ten feet tall.
