The following is a republished press release from the Cortland Regional Sports Council.
CORTLAND, N.Y. — The Cortland County Firemen’s Association and the Cortland Regional Sports Council and are partnering once again to host the 2017 Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) Winter Games. Cortland has served as the site for this event for twelve years as it draws fire departments and auxiliaries from across the state to Central New York for the two day competition.
Currently over 174 firefighters have pre-registered. Departments from Greene, Broome, Suffolk, Erie, Nassau, Delaware, Onondaga, Tioga, Rensselaer, Wayne, and Oneida counties are slated to compete. Two local departments from Cortland County – Homer and Cortlandville will be amongst the competitors.
“We expect another 100 or so firefighters to register onsite this weekend.” says event organizer and local firefighter Doug VanEtten. “The interest level has increased each year for the Games.” VanEtten explained.
Kicking off with the event on Saturday, February 4th will be Tube Racing, Stokes Basket Carry, Firefighter Geocache (Scavenger Hunt) and the ever popular Tug-O-War. All Saturday events are held at Greek Peak with registration at the Adventure Center. Sunday’s event is the Broomball Tournament being played at the JM McDonald Sports Complex this year.
“The Cortland Regional Sports Council is pleased to be a part of hosting this event each year.” said CRSC executive director Machell Phelps. “You will notice the participants if you’re at Greek Peak or the McDonald Complex since they are competing in full turnout gear...You don’t see that every day!”
The event gives New York State Fire Departments the opportunity to come together in a competitive, yet fun environment with opportunities to socialize. Support for the Winter Games is supplied by FASNY, the Cortland County Firemen’s Association and the CRSC. Local volunteers Doug VanEtten, Norm Forrest and Dave Denniston spend many months planning and organizing for the weekend.
Additional information on the schedule and registration can be found at www.fasny.com/wintergames or at www.cortlandsports.org. Stop out and support the various department this weekend!
