Football equipment disappears from school

DADE CITY - For more than 20 years, a large blocking sled sat on a field outside Pasco Middle School in Dade City. This week Pasco Middle School's head football coach, Danny Wade, noticed the sled was gone.

"I just happened to look out and it wasn't here. I surveyed the area, started calling seeing if anyone had picked it up for maintenance we didn't know. It's gone," Wade said.

The sled is more than 20 feet wide and weighs more than 1500 pounds. It takes five football players to move the sled a few feet. The thief or thieves had to do one of two things: either drag the sled all across the field, or somehow get it up and over a fence.

Wade, who pushed that very sled himself as a student, said it would have taken more than one or two people to take the sled.

"It's sad that it came to that," said assistant principal Laurie Johnson. "It's sad that somebody would take something that belongs to the school and to children that use it."

The theft of the sled means the new uniforms the Pasco Middle School Pirates were to purchase next year will be delayed. The existing uniforms will pressed into a ninth season.

Dade City Police say the sled was likely taken and sold as scrap metal. Investigators say they'd be amazed if the entire blocking sled fetches more than few hundred dollars; a replacement sled will cost at least $4,000.00.

It's a piece of equipment Coach Wade said the team cannot do without.

There have been some donations from Pasco Middle School alumni but not enough to buy a new sled. If you would like to donate, call the school at 813-794-8400.