The players were instructed to view Saturday as a game day.

So when the 15 Corbett Middle School football players piled out of a stretch limousine Saturday afternoon, they moved quickly, most kept their hands stuffed in their lettermen jacket pockets and their heads down. They had their game faces on.

Their welcoming party: two lines of Hooters waitresses in bright orange shorts and tight tops, a row of video cameras and a crowd of well-wishers hooting and hollering.

So ended what was undoubtedly the strangest week in Corbett Middle School football history.

A month ago, Randy Burbach, volunteer football coach for the middle school, decided on the location for what would be his treat: an end of the season party. Somebody suggested Hooters, the national chain with a Jantzen Beach location. Having taken his own sons to Hooters when they were 10 and 12, an experience he was initially "apprehensive about," Burbach decided Hooters was a fine location. He thought he knew what to expect.

He anticipated a "memorable experience" for the boys and their families and a fun party. He didn't expect to make national news, and be summarily let go from his volunteer position by Corbett Middle School Athletic Director J.P. Soulagnet.



But that's what happened. "We've been cast in a negative light by some," Burbach said. "I'll take it. I don't care, but the kids and the community are showing what we're about."

Burbach decided to keep the party and stay strong, to "be accountable for the decision and the process that was made."

Hooters stepped in and said they'd pay for the party, donate $1,000 to the Corbett Middle School sports program and contribute 20 percent of store revenues on Saturday as well.

So the party was on, without the support of the school. Soulagnet wrote in a letter to parents that the school “cannot further support them in coaching roles here at Corbett based on the unwillingness to change the location of this event to a more appropriate spot.”

The 23-member team wasn't fully represented Saturday. Some had other commitments, some chose not to come out of moral concerns, Burbach said. He said he respects those who didn't attend, for standing up for their values, too.

Before the hubbub of the limousines and the video cameras, Hooters staff rushed to get ready. They set up red, black and white balloons outside and inside the restaurants.

Adrian Oca swept the parking lot, dusted outside lights and picked up garbage. Oca is the regional director of Hooters, overseeing stores in Ventura County, Calif., Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest.

It's not like sports team parties are unusual at Hooters, he said. "We do those things all the time, we do fundraisers all the time." Sunday is kids day at all Hooters locations, he said. Kids 12 and under eat for free.

But Saturday's party seemed bigger because of the firing and national headlines. "The managers here haven't known what to expect," Oca said.

Prior to the Corbett team's arrival, the clientele was a mix of older couples and young families with children.

A highlight video of the Corbett squad played on a big screen TV on a loop.

Once the team arrived, it was a chaotic scene.

Constantine Leontescu's son Matei is linebacker and outside linebacker for the eighth grade squad. Matei excelled for the 6-2 team, Burbach said. He had a couple game saving tackles.

"It's unfortunate that it came to this," Leontescu said, witnessing the media cameras hovering around the team. His family was initially surprised at the location, Leontescu said, and decided not to go. But they changed their mind. They had a family talk, he said.

The talk was about how Matei, 14, needs to look at women, how he needs to respect women while in public. Leontescu wasn't concerned Saturday would change his son's life.

"He just wants to be with his teammates mainly and have a good time," he said.

Monday is the team's official end of the year party. There will be pizza. There will be awards. They'll watch more video.

And that will be the official end of the season for the squad. It was a memorable one.

-- Andrew Theen