by Mark Ambrogi)
By Mark Ambrogi
It started when then-Carmel High School defensive coordinator Keith Fiedler wanted to have a way to stay connected with former players.
After getting then-head coach Jim Belden’s blessing, he employed the help of Terry Prather, a 1964 CHS graduate.
“We wanted to keep in touch with each other and keep the tradition that was started with (former coach) Dick Dullaghan and continued with Jim,” Fiedler said. “We thought it was a good idea to get everyone to come back. They still have a love for Carmel football.”
The Carmel Football Alumni Club will celebrate its 25th Anniversary on Sept. 18 with a golf outing followed by dinner at the stadium before the Greyhounds host Lawrence North at 7 p.m.
Fiedler, 63, and Prather, both Carmel residents, are still heavily involved in the club, which officially formed in 1990. Fielder started in 1974 as the CHS assistant coach and became defensive coordinator in 1984. He was head coach from 1997 until retiring after the 2004 season.
Prather coached the Carmel Pups and later became a CHS volunteer assistant coach. Prather serves as treasurer of the club. Jon Burman, a 1984 CHS graduate, is the president.
The golf tournament will be at Carmel’s Prairie View Golf Club at 9 a.m. The cost for the tournament, which includes a box lunch, is $99 a person. There will then be a free kick off dinner at the Carmel Football Stadium provided by Bub’s, whose owner Matt Frey, a 1989 CHS graduate, is a former football player.
There are 260 members currently in the dues-paying club.
“Justin Todd, who played in the state championship game in 2011, is one of our board members, so we have a nice range of board members and volunteers,” Burman said.
The nonprofit has donated more than $35,000 for scholarships and other needs for the program. A $1,000 scholarship by the club is awarded each year through the Carmel Clay Educational Foundation. Prather said two scholarships will be awarded in 2016.
Normally the club’s biggest fundraiser is the annual golf outing in May.
“We’re expecting a lot of guys who can’t make that golf outing to maybe make like it’s a homecoming event since it’s the 25th anniversary,” Fiedler said.
For more information, visit carmelfootballalumniclub.com.
