East and West sides of Manasquan collide in annual Warrior for a Day

MANASQUAN — Despite the chilled air, competition ran hot among citizens of Manasquan on Saturday in the annual recreation department’s Warrior for a Day.

This day saw dozens of Manasquan residents on two teams, East and West, compete in a slew of sporting activities including, cornhole, volleyball, flag football, softball and a tug-of-war.

Each side brought their A-game, as residents competed to take home gold and the glory. The winner of this competition would have their team’s side engraved onto a plaque.

Steve Antonucci, recreation director, told The Coast Star that this was day two of the Warrior for a Day events. Friday night, children of Manasquan competed in similar events also for gold and glory. Saturday’s events were exclusively for the adults of the community.

Antonucci gave a little background on the history of this event noting, “We used to play this softball game between the East and the West side of town. We had it going for a bunch of years but then it went away, but then we had the idea to bring it back and add some activities to it.”

Residents registered on the East of West teams, depending on what side of town they live on. The line dividing the town is Route 71. Antonucci joked that the teams could also be called “Dry-side” and “Wet-side” referencing how the East side of town tends to flood in major storm events.

“We try to put together some activities to put some points together and then name a champion of the town, so to speak,” said Antonucci. “We just want to bring the community together, not that it really needed it. We are just looking for something for the adults to do. From a recreation standpoint, we primarily focus on the younger generation, so we want to get the moms and dads out a little bit too.”

Last year was Warrior for a Day’s grand start, and the West side took home the gold. Previous to this, the East side dominated the competition when the event was just the softball tournament.

Residents were able to sign up for specific events, and were not required to participate in all of them throughout the day. Roughly 36 residents signed up per event, with a total of 50 to 60 residents participating overall in the day.

For more on this story, read the next edition of The Coast Star —on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.

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