You rarely see their faces when they board. First thing up is their huge equipment bag, usually a helmet, tied to the side or the bottom, followed by their huge backpacks. The bigger boys board first, and then they come in order of size till they are all aboard. They board in stations like Middletown, Campbell Hall or Salisbury Mills for their trip to Ramsey 17. There, they climb the steps, two flights up, then two flights down, and board a yellow school bus that will take them to their practice field. They also board the bus in the same order, and usually the last thing you see is the littlest one pulling his huge sack through the bus door, and with a one big final tug he is in. The bus doors close and off they go.

They are on the 5:04 a.m. train out of Port Jervis, which will have them on the field for their morning runs by 7 a.m. Their purple sweaters or jackets give them away; these are the Ironmen of Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, NJ. The private, all-boy Catholic High School is run by the priests and brothers of the Salesians of St. John Bosco. This time of year, these are the boys who make up the football team. Although the soccer and track teams are on the train as well, the gridiron boys have the most gear. They are all clean-cut and well dressed, and after they find their seats, usually the books come out to finish their homework from the night before. They may flip a seat and sit in a study group of four to prep for an exam or, as teenagers will do, they flop on their gear and go to sleep.

One of them is a freshman, who is usually by the doors as we pull into the Ramsey 17 station, for fear of missing the school bus and then practice. I will say this, they watch out for each other. Without fail, one of the senior boys always makes the trip through the train cars rousing the sleeping and telling the bookworms to close it up, time to get off. Boys will be boys, and it’s fun to watch him move through the aisles with his hand out whacking the sleeping in the back of the head. He then stands with the conductor on the platform, scanning the train to make sure they all get off. Yes, they are a tribe—the Bosco Tribe; it is really great to see him watching out for the others like a mother hen. Each year it will be a different senior—a team captain, maybe?

One thing is for sure: they are getting used to the commuting drill. After these school years, the few additional stops that will bring them into Manhattan will be a drop in the bucket. They still have college in their future and a whole life in front of them, but for now the Ironmen have a football season to win. If the train is any indication of the way they move and act as a team, I am sure their season will be great.