KINGFIELD – A bunch of guys rolling around in the mud, fighting over a slippery pigskin is downright good entertainment, and it also benefits charity.
As part of the Kingfield Days celebration, the annual mud football championships will be played Saturday and Sunday with games starting at 10 a.m. About eight teams are expected from all over New England, but the Carrabassett Valley Rats, who are credited with inventing the game, will have the home team advantage and the support of the home crowd. Each team will play in two games Saturday, and Sunday will be the single-elimination playoffs. This year’s games will be played at a field just over a mile up West Kingfield Road. Look for the sign on the left.
Coach Bob Moore is in his 26th year as a Rat. “It’s the competition and camaraderie between us and the other teams we’ve met through the years,” he says of why he returns to the mud each year. “And we raise money for charities and scholarships.”
Chad Beedy, 29, says he also likes the competition and plays because it’s for a good cause. But it’s also a tradition for the Beedy family. Chad’s father, Ronk, now 56, has played since 1980, and Chad’s brother James, 34, will also play this weekend.
“Both of my uncles played but they’ve gotten injured over the years and my cousins have played,” he said. “We’ve just stuck with it.”
“We go out and have a lot of fun,” he added. “Everybody we play against, we’re all friends. It’s all in fun, but we do get competitive.”
Along with the local boys, some Massachusetts players are also coming up this weekend to play for the Valley Rats.
“We’re strong,” Moore said of his team.
“We’re good, and we’re competitive,” Beedy said. “But sometimes it’s hard to play against those guys who are right out of college, which a lot of the guys on the other teams are.”
But the mud levels the playing field, Moore said.
“We try to get the mud fairly deep, 12 to 18 inches deep,” he added. “It reduces the speed of the game and makes it challenging. It’s hard to hold on to the ball.”
Kingfield Days will take place Friday-Sunday with events like the Amazing Kingfield Race, stage acts, bands, an artisan fair, the Whatever Floats Race down the Carrabassett River and the parade with Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott as the grand marshal.
Some events, like mud football, do charge admission.
Comments are no longer available on this story