Welcome to Bruins Country

When Patrick Kellaher posted on Cherokee Connect that he wanted to start a semiprofessional football team in Cherokee County, the response was overwhelming.

In a few weeks Patrick teamed with John Little and “Unc” Randy Fowler to create the Cherokee County Bruins, a semipro football team consisting of fifty-six local players ranging in age from seventeen to thirty-seven years old.

The team’s goal is to become a direct avenue to professional leagues wherein the players play with the Bruins for one season and then springboard to the big leagues. Patrick now proudly refers to Cherokee County as “Bruins Country.”

“We are raising the bar for semipro football by becoming the gold standard,” John says. Using the foundations of Passion, Physical, Professional, and Philanthropic, the players are required to play passionately and physically tough on the field, act professionally, and serve philanthropically. He explains further, “Everyone in this organization is treated as professionals, so we can provide every resource available to be successful and community-minded.”

With this community-minded approach, the Bruins held a golf tournament to raise money for breast cancer research and also held its first Annual Youth Camp, which hosted fifty youth campers. The team has also aligned with Cherokee Youth Football Association, which welcomes elementary-aged players.

Randy promises, “The Bruins will continue to support Cherokee County through fundraising, volunteering for charity, [and] whatever is necessary to make a difference and give back to the community—a community that already showed so much love before we even played a regular game.”

Let’s continue to show some love and rally ’round our Bruins at Cherokee Veterans Park this fall to cheer them on to victory.

The owners wish to give a huge shout-out to their coaching staff, all of whom volunteer their time to coach and lead the Bruins: Russell Bailey—Semipro Coach, Todd Davis—Defensive Assistant Coordinator, Brett Brown—Special Teams Coach, Billy Reid—Running Back Coach, and Mike Anderson—Offensive Line Coach.