Football players and parents packed into the Norwin school board's meeting room on Monday night to express their support for a proposed change in the time and day of the homecoming game.

Although the board did not take any action on the matter, members listened to the concerns raised by the nearly 50-person audience, which echoed some of the issues the board had already discussed.

Larry Dominic, president of the football boosters association, said the primary reason the team and parents wanted the change was safety. With a Saturday afternoon game, players, band members, cheerleaders and students have to rush home when the game ends to get ready for the evening's dance, he said, and that could lead to a traffic accident.

"I can't believe at this point we haven't had an accident yet because these kids are flying out of here," Dominic said.

A Friday night game would also keep the players on their weekly schedule and avoid the heat of the early afternoon, Dominic said. He added that the change would benefit the community as well, because without a game to go to on Saturday, parade watchers would have more incentive to stay in Irwin and patronize the local shops and restaurants.

Other parents pointed out that the move would allow the football players to participate in the parade, because they would no longer have to spend the time warming up for the game.

A number of players themselves also voiced support for the idea. Zeki Alikaya, a senior, said having a Saturday game throws off the rhythm established during the rest of the season.

Junior Michael Dominic agreed, saying players were physically and mentally conditioned to play on Friday.

"Then, all of a sudden in the middle of the season, you have a wrench thrown in and you have to play on Saturday," he said.

Football player Nick Nigro pointed out that most other high schools have their homecoming games on Friday evening.

"Games are supposed to be played on Fridays," he said.

School board President Robert Perkins told the assembled players and parents that the board was still looking into the issue, and they would take their comments into consideration.

"We're looking at probably several options," he said.

The homecoming game was not the only football related issue that came up. James Lane, a volunteer defensive line coach and weight training coordinator for the team, wanted to know if he could get access to the middle school or high school weight rooms after school.

Lane said the team has a large number of incoming freshmen, and he is having trouble finding space for them to lift weights and condition properly. He said the weight rooms in the high school and middle school are reserved for faculty and community use, which did not make sense to him.

"I think the students should come first," said Lane.

Assistant Superintendent Janet Franicola explained that the weight rooms were built using money from a grant, and one of the stipulations of the grant was that the facilities have time set aside for staff and the public.

Superintendent John Boylan said he would look into the matter and find space for the players.