The Palm Beach Mariners Football Club is a private non-profit organization in West Palm Beach, Florida. We operate, manage, and coach young men on the playing roster of our amateur adult full-contact football team. Our staff and players also volunteer time to various local municipalities and other non-profit agencies to provide general physical assistance and moral support at events hosted and/or sponsored by these type organizations. Our Board of Directors meet quarterly, while our staff and players meet frequently throughout the year.
The Palm Beach Mariners Football Club is funded solely through the financial contributions of our Board of Directors, coaches, miscellaneous volunteer staff, and players, as well as those solicited from the general public and commercial sponsors.
None of our Board of Directors, coaching staff, game day staff, or players receive any financial compensation for their time and effort as members of our organization. Our personnel (i.e., coaches, other staff and players) are usually employed full-time or part-time by other private businesses or government entities, and attend or participate in team events on their own time. Most of the equipment the players use and/or wear for practice and game use is purchased by them with their own personal funds. Practice and game uniforms are purchased through the player participation fees submitted to and collected by team officials at the start of training camp each fall of the year, as well as private and/or commercial sponsor donations, etc. On occasion, some players may claim "hardship", and such player participation fees are waived in order for them to compete for a spot on our roster.
The Mariners are members of the Southeast Football League (SEFL), where we compete against similar teams during a 10-game regular season schedule that usally begins the second Saturday in February of each year, and concludes with the championship and all-star game(s), respectively, held in late May of each year.
Mini-Camp for players is generally held for three (3) weeks in the month of September each year. Our regular Training Camp sessions begin in the first week of November each year, and lasts six (6) weeks, generally thru the second full week in the following month of December. We return from the Christmas and New Year's Holiday break in the first week of January of each year to prepare for the upcoming regular season of play. Our scrimmage and/or "exhibition" games are usually scheduled for one game per month prior to the regular season, beginning with the "Turkey Bowl". The Turkey Bowl is held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We then attempt to schedule our remaining scrimmage or exhibition game activity in both December and January.
All of our home games, whether it's an exhibition, scrimmage or SEFL sanctioned event, are played at Al Sutton Field on the campus of Suncoast Community High School in the City of Riviera Beach.
Our fan base population is estimated at 105,000 within a 41 square mile area that reaches as far north as PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens, south to Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach, East to the ICW, and west to Haverhill Road and/or the Florida Turnpike (see map below). It is an area with a large diverse mix of people and culture, and with various annual income ranges ($19,000-$250,000).
The 2009 Turkey Bowl will be played at Buckingham Community Park in Fort Myers, Florida against the Southwest Florida Bobcats. For more information on this game, please visit our "Schedule" page on this website.
In December of 2010, The Mariners hope to bring the Chattanooga Steam to West Palm Beach to play an exhibition game on our home field. The Steam are the 2009 Deep South Football League (DSFL) Champions, and are a nationally respected franchise in minor league football. Chattanooga finished the 2009 MLFN Winter/Spring rankings at #17¹ in the nation with a 14-1 overall record. In 2011, The Palm Beach Mariners will to travel to Chattanooga and play the Steam on their home turf, Lookout Valley High School.
The Palm Beach Mariners look forward to a successful and long relationship with our fans, sponsors and friends in the Palm Beaches area.
¹ As of the final Minor League Football News rankings released on August 9, 2009.
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RED SHADED AREA DEPICTS ESTIMATED FAN BASE OF THE PALM BEACH MARINERS:
APPROXIMATELY 105,000 PEOPLE WITHIN 41 SQUARE MILES.
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The primary mission of the Palm Beach Mariners Football Club is to promote the game of football at the minor league level through participation in organized league games while simultaneously providing skilled athletes the opportunity to continue their playing career in our sport beyond the level of high school, so that they may possibly work themselves into a position that will afford them the chance to graduate to another desired level (i.e., college or professional football). Our program will function at a level and in a manner that project a positive image for our players, staff and the community we serve and live in. Membership in an organized league of play, and adherence to the governing philosophies and regulations of said entity, provide a framework for implementing this mission statement.
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In its activities and programs, the Palm Beach Mariners will strive:
1. To insure our players and coaching staff and have a positive athletic experience that provides further development of athletic skills, personal mental and social growth, and in some instances, possible career preparation.
2. To become a premiere minor league football club in all aspects related to our corporate sponsors, patrons, and fellow members of the organized league of play that we participate in. Our staff shall aim at observing and fulfilling the objectives and regulations of the organized league of play that we participate in, and will aim to be consistently competitive within said league.
3. To insure our patrons have a positive game-day experience that provides value and entertainment for the price of admission.
4. To continue to strengthen and improve the fund raising capabilities to improve the overall operation and insure the overall growth of our football club.
5. To be cognizant that the endeavors of the Palm Beach Mariners are not ends in themselves but are directed to the benefit of each player, coach and staff member as a total person in particular and to the good of the team and community as a whole.
6. To project a positive image of the team and the community we represent.
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The Palm Beach Mariners Football Club is offering skilled athletes the opportunity to continue their development beyond high school. Such opportunities are consistent with the Mariners’ principal mission of providing such athletes a venue to display their skills before any person(s) or team(s) searching for talented athletes at a higher level of competition in another organized league, or program, of play in the sport of football.
The Palm Beach Mariners Football Club believes that athletics at any level should be as much an educational experience about life, as it is in gaining knowledge about the making of plays on the field and in a game, etc.
It is important that each of our players and staff members learn the overall concept of teamwork and how it translates to all aspects of life itself, regardless of the game, job, or activity a person should choose to engage themselves in. The Mariners will continue to develop policies and seek personnel to advance this philosophy.
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mar-in-er:
n.
1. One who navigates, or assists in navigating,
a ship. (aka: Helmsman, Pilot, etc.)
2. A man who serves as a sailor. (aka: Seafarer,
Seamen, Sea Dog, Old Salt, Jack Tar, etc.)
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The Palm Beach Mariners Encourage All Fans and Boosters To Visit and Support The
PALM BEACH MARTIME MUSEUM
(Currie Park)
2400 North Flagler Drive
Westr Palm Beach, FL 33401
(561) 832-7428
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