It was a nail biter of a game Saturday at Holy Cross gymnasium as the Upper Darby police and firefighters faced off once again for the third annual Battle of the Badges.
Police held onto their title for the third consecutive year, but barely. The final score was police 29, firefighters 28.
“It went great,” Lisa Faraglia, board member of the Westbrook Park Youth Association, said. “The firefighters were in the lead the whole time and then the police pulled through for the win. It was exciting. The police won all three years in a row. The kids had a great time.”
The first Upper Darby Battle of the Badges was held in 2024 and it followed an initial football game between the two the year prior.
That year, 2023, the Westbrook Park Youth Association kicked off its flag football program and Faraglia thought it would be a community-building event to have the police and firefighters play. So they did in November 2023.
That was so much fun, they decided to follow it up with a basketball game that next March as a cap to the final games of the season for the Westbrook Park Youth Association’s 10-to-12-year-old players.
Now, it’s almost becoming a seasonal tradition with year three wrapped.
The Westbrook Park Youth Association has approximately 150 youth from ages 4 to 12 involved in flag football, basketball, nerf hockey, dodge ball and pickleball. Founded in 1957, its focus is fun and character building.
Faraglia thanked the two team captains, Maura O’Connell and Bill Norris, as well as Capt. Sean Kenny for arranging the event.
Plus, she added, “I do like to thank the fire department chief (Nick Martin) and (Police) Superintendent (Timothy) Bernhardt to helping make this event a success.”
The Upper Darby police and firefighters teams battle for the ball at the third annual Battle of the Badges on Saturday. (COURTESY OF LISA FARAGLIA)
Faraglia thanked all those who participated in the day.
“It’s a great feeling,” she said. “It’s great for the community. It’s a great community event just to get people out there and have fun … Everybody had a great time.”
She recalled its beginnings.
“This is just a community event that we started with the flag footballs,” Faraglia said. “Then, we had two officers get hurt so we stopped with the flag football.”
That didn’t happen with this year’s rendition.
“I said to my daughter, ‘Don’t get hurt,’ ” Faraglia said.
The Upper Darby firefighters team (COURTESY OF LISA FARAGLIA)
She is the mom of Upper Darby police Officer Angelia Faraglia. “Nobody got hurt so it was a win-win all around,” she added.
The police team consisted of the captain O’Connell; Bernhardt; Fran Connors; Angelia Faraglia; Nick Moriconi; Mike Crispin; Joe Girardi; Mike Murphy; Olivia Dill; Carmen Maniaci; Kyle Stabinski; and Sgt. Jimmy Kellar.
And the firefighters’ team included: captain Bill Norris; John Boswell; Joe Kohler; Joe Epright; Dave Gallagher; Tony Alosi; Matt Powers; James Salmon; Jahsir Smith; Joey Strofe; Steven Goetz; A.J. Murphy and Nick DePompeo.