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Football: Dence Gives Back, Blue Flames Win Championship

By: Joe Cicchino - Sports Information Assistant

FORT WASHINGTON -- “The City of Brotherly Love” might soon be renamed “The City of Football Champions.” Almost everyone is aware that the Philadelphia Eagles recently won the first Super Bowl title in team history, ending a 52-year drought. Before that happened, the Philadelphia Soul won their third Arena Bowl. However, not many know about the Philadelphia Blue Flame and how they ended a 15-year championship drought.

While the feeling of winning a title is great, the work done by those who suit up for the team is even greater.

The Blue Flame compete in the National Public Safety Football League along with 19 other teams. The group consists of police officers from Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, firefighters, correctional officers and EMT’s from the city and its surrounding counties. This past season, the team won the Division II title, 21-7, over Roanoke Rampage from Virginia.

One of the coaches stalking the sideline is Germantown Academy Head Football Coach Matt Dence, who serves on the offensive side of the ball. He is joined by eight other local coaches on the staff.

“All of the coaches are local high school coaches,” Dence said. “The head coach, Charlie Szydlik, was the head coach at North Catholic and Neumann-Goretti. I’ve known him for a lot of years. Five years ago, he called me and wanted a quarterbacks/receivers guy to basically be in charge of the pass game.”

Dence took the volunteer position. He said that he had a lot of family and friends that were police officers and firefighters, so he looked at it as a way to “get to know these guys and to give back.” He even added that if he had not become a teacher and a coach that he probably would have became a firefighter.

The NPSFL began in 1998, but according to Dence, after 9/11, a lot of people wanted to do things to raise money for survivors and victims. Blue Flame gave many people the platform to do just that.

“Everything we do goes to the Philadelphia Police and Firefighters Survivor Fund,” Dence said. “It started with a lot of good intentions and I think it’s continued with good intentions. The best part of working with these guys is that they all care about other people. I know they care about their community, I know they care about each other and keeping people safe. You just see that unity and even though we all might disagree about some things, they’re a great example of what people should stand for. I’m really proud to be a part of that.”

In addition to his position being a way to give back, Dence also sees it as a form of “professional development." With so many different coaches being on the sideline it would be hard to not learn new plays or tactics. Dence said that he has already incorporated things he learned from Blue Flame to his team at Germantown Academy.

"If you’re just going to do your thing and not listen to anyone else, that’s dumb," Dence said. "When you have resources at your disposal, you should learn. There’s three or four of the quick step concepts that Charlie Szydlik likes to do that I look at and think, 'how we can incorporate that into our run-pass option stuff?' We even call it the same stuff he calls it."

Besides transferring plays from Blue Flame to GA, the coach has also flipped the script, bringing GA plays to Blue Flame. He says that while the team does not throw the ball all over the place, they do get rid of the ball quickly to receivers. Anyone that has attended a Patriots game at Carey Stadium is familiar with that style of play.

Outside of the football aspect, working with the team is also providing Dence with new ways of teaching. Instead of coaching up high school kids, he’s working with grown men who might not make it to a practice or games because they are busy catching criminals or putting out fires. In fact, this past season one player missed a majority of the games because he tore his ACL while chasing a suspect.

Despite this and a few other setbacks -- more injuries and teams dropping out -- the group was able to turn their fourth trip to the championship game into a successful one. Although there will not be a parade down Broad Street, Dence said that there will be a small ceremony at the station to recognize the work that was put into the season.

“There’s going to be a trophy presentation at the Fraternal Order of Police lounge,” Dence said. “They made two trophies -- one for police and one for firefighters. It’s something to be proud of. I’m proud to support our community in some way. It’s great that my job at GA is flexible enough for me to do that. I think in a time where all we hear about is the negative things, we need to hear some positive things too.”