FRIENDS OF
CANTON FOOTBALL

The great game of football was first played in Canton, Connecticut in 1900. From 1900 through 1963 Canton High School fielded a football team. But unfortunately in 1964 due to a very low number of available players Canton High had to eliminate the program. 

In the ensuing years there were a number of attempts to restore football to town without success.

All of that changed in 2005 when a dedicated group of Canton parents organized with a mission to bring football back to Canton High School, and the Friends of Canton Football was born.

 

Over the course of the next year football was hotly debated throughout the town.  Town meetings were held, board meetings were attended and ultimately in the fall of 2006 football was proudly restored to the Canton Community.

On September 16th of that year on Van Why field at Gilbert High School, Canton’s Club Football team beat Gilbert’s Junior Varsity program 34-12 for the first Canton High School football victory in over 40 years. In the fall of 2006 the Canton Club team would go on to win six games while losing only two.

 

With the success of the 2006 club football team, varsity football was formally restored to Canton High School the following year in 2007.

The mission of the Friends of Canton Football has always been to be the sole fund raising arm of the program.

Additionally, to comply with Title IX, Canton High School Girls Lacrosse was added as a varsity high school sport and the funding for the program also became part of FoCF’s fund raising responsibilities.

 

It was extremely gratifying to watch the football program grow since our first practices on “sewerside” field back in 2006. Our home games are now played on a beautiful synthetic turf multi use playing field on the High School campus. We have improved locker facilities, weight room, practice field and state of the art equipment and uniforms. Beginning with the 2018 season, lights were added to the turf so games could be played on Friday nights.

All of this happened due to the unbelievable efforts of a small group of dedicated parents who came together in 2005 to form the Friends of Canton Football with a single mission in mind; Is Canton High School ready for some football?

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In the Spring of 2019, the decision was made to combine the Canton High School football team with the Granby Memorial High School football team to form a co-op, which many towns around the state are also doing.  The inaugural season of the Granby / Canton Bears brought the varsity team to the playoffs.  After a one season hiatus due to Covid-19, the team was eager to return to the field in 2021 and had a great Varsity and JV season. Stay tuned for more history in the making!