In 2012, Phil Morin asked a few of his fantasy football buddies if they might be interested in trading the keyboard for the clipboard and signing up to play in the New York Football Giants Snow Bowl.
“Special Olympics is a very worthwhile charity that people are happy to give to they just need to be asked. It’s been all low dollars from friends, from family, from coworkers, that see how inspired how I get and my friends get from interacting with Finn.”
Their response was a resounding “Let’s get started.” and they did. The group from Cranford, New Jersey created the Shark Finns in honor of Phil’s one-year-old son Finn.
In the years since, the team has seen some players hang up the cleats and few new players join on but their mission of raising funds for Special Olympics athletes like Finn has remained the focus. As a team, the Shark Finns have raised more than $125,000 through their fundraising efforts. As for Finn, he’s since been involved with the Special Olympics through the Young Athletes Program.
Post – Event Recap
The 13th annual New York Giant’s Snow Bowl took place Friday, March 15 through Sunday, March 17, 2019 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.
The 3-day, 6-6 flag football tournament raised nearly $540,000 for over 25,000 Special Olympics New Jersey athletes.
The Snow Bowl is a unique fundraising event that gives players the chance to compete on the renowned turf field of the New York Giants. Five flag football games are played at once with unlimited panoramic stadium views. This year, Snow Bowl had 140 teams compete, with over 300 volunteer officials.
Friday teams consisted of Law Enforcement/Fire Fighters competitive & recreation; Saturday was competitive & recreation, 40 & older teams; Sunday was coed & recreation teams.
Special shout out to the top fundraising teams*:
Shark Finns: Raised over $28,200
Spencer Blue Diamonds: Raised over $18,600
Luke’s Warriors: Raised over $16,200
*Fundraising totals are still pending as of 3/21
Former New York Giants players such as Chris Canty, Garrett Dickerson and others dropped in throughout the weekend as the games were in session.
There was even a proposal that took place on Sunday! Congrats to the newly engaged couple!
Check out the additional recap from the Daily Record and NJ.com.
Thanks again to everyone who participated in this year’s event. Special shoutout to our volunteer officials (this tournament could not happen without you) and to sponsors: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Ernst & Young, Thorlabs and Flaghouse.
Click the links below to see the photos from the 2019 Snow Bowl.