No One Has Right to Change Tradition, Varsity Raider Says

Editor’s note: The following statement was read before the Washington Township Committee on Jan. 14, 2015. It has been reproduced for publication on Long Valley Patch.

Dear Editor,

My name is Jeffrey Chaplin. Next football season I will be the varsity quarterback of the Long Valley Raiders. I am also the grandson of 1 of the 4 founding fathers of the Long Valley Raiders.

My mom, dad, aunts and uncles were also Raiders’ football players and cheerleaders. I thought of myself as a Raider before I ever started playing 8 years ago.

People are trying to change our Raiders colors of green and gold because they don’t like them. They want us to look like every other sports team in this town. They also want us to look like the high school football team.

My problem is we are not every other sports team; we are the Long Valley Raiders, green and gold not blue and white. We have been a part of this town for 43 years and Raiders green and gold is who we are. Nobody in this program now, or in the future should have the right to change who we are.

Please do what’s right and keep the green and gold.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Chaplin
Long Valley

See related stories:

• Vote May Change Historic Long Valley Raiders Football Colors
• Raiders Cheerleader: ‘Family’ Organization Deserves Vote on Uniform Change
• No One Has Right to Change Tradition, Varsity Raider Says

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