Why Dover's Richard Driscoll is honored to be CHaD football game official
MANCHESTER — The annual CHaD all-star high school football contest is the game Dover's Richard Driscoll looks forward to the most, and he makes sure not to miss it.
"As soon as I see the date posted, I make sure that I put it on my calendar so I can be a part of it," said Driscoll, who has been officiating high school football games since the early 1990s. "I already figured out that next year I'll be back as a ball boy or whatever else is needed along the sideline."
The game features graduated seniors from all over New Hampshire to raise funds through donations and fundraisers to donate to the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
This year, a total of over $228,000 was raised with $50,000 coming from donations collected by student-athletes from both teams.
More: Team East helps raise $228K in 11th annual CHaD football game
Driscoll officiated the 2023 game on Friday, but he'll take any role to help out. He has taken part in 11 CHaD games as either a ball boy, chain mover or whatever is needed.
When Driscoll was first presented with the opportunity to be a part of the CHaD game, he said it was something he knew he wanted to do.
"When the New Hampshire Football Official Association reached out for volunteers to help take care of the officiating and ball boys, and I volunteered to be a ball boy the first year and just started to enjoy it," Driscoll said. "I had a niece who had a bout with childhood cancer and had been treated outside of the state, but seeing all the work CHaD had done certainly helped me in making a decision that this was a group that I wanted to be a part of."
Driscoll's second time as an official
Friday night's game was just the second time Driscoll was a game official over the 11 years he's participated. He mentioned how all of the players, coaches, officials and fans do their best to promote a good game and fun time.
"You see the coaches in a different light, because it's not a fall football program, but they want 100% out of the kids, and we want 100% ourselves to promote a good game," Driscoll said.
The NHFOA tries to swap out a new set of officials each year to give a new crew a chance, and this year, Driscoll was a late substitution for a different official who couldn't make the game due to an illness.
"As an official on the field, I always joke that it's the best seat in the house," Driscoll said. "You get to see how competitive the kids are, and in a game like this the kids are very competitive when the ball is live, and as soon as the play is over, they're helping each other up and ready for the next play."
Inside Driscoll's commitment
Driscoll pointed to some of the pregame moments to show what brings him back each year to Saint Anselm College where the game is played.
"When you see the ambassadors for the teams come out for the coin flip, and you see those kids who have not had an easy life or had been battling, it makes us aware of how lucky we are," Driscoll said. "I have two children of my own, and I didn't deal with that. So it's just a way to get out there and help them. You see the positive things that CHaD does over the course of the years through different programs, and I just want to be a small part of that."
Additionally, when Driscoll steps on the field for a CHaD game, he has someone special on his mind who passed away several years ago, he said.
"(Mike Veveiros) was always one of the first guys to volunteer to be a member of the chain crew or ball boy, and I just thought it was always awesome how quick he was to sign up," Driscoll said. "So, I'm trying to follow in his legacy that he had started."
This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Dover's Richard Driscoll won't miss CHaD NH all-star football game
