IRVING, Texas (Oct. 20, 2022) – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today the five outstanding recipients of the 2022 NFF Chapter Leadership Awards.
 
First presented in 1988, the NFF Chapter Leadership Awards annually recognize five individuals, one from each region of the country, for their commitment, generosity and leadership at the local level in fulfilling the NFF's mission of preserving, promoting and protecting the game of football.
   

• John Barbarotta – NFF DeSantis-McDougall/Fairfield County (CT) Chapter (Northeast Region)
• Tony Cocca – NFF Lehigh Valley (PA) Chapter (East Region)
• Ken Leach – NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter (Midwest Region)
• James Lofdahl – NFF San Fernando Valley (CA) Chapter (West Region)
• Freddie Sandel – NFF Miss/Lou Chapter (South Region)

 
Each of the five Chapter Leadership Award winners will be honored during festivities surrounding the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 6 at Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The Awards Dinner will be headlined by the induction of the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class; the presentation of the 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments; and the bestowing of the 33rd William V. Campbell Trophy® to college football's top scholar-athlete.
 
Click here for more information on the Awards Dinner, including options to purchase tickets online, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and Bellagio and a concierge service provided by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
 
"Each of these individuals has embraced the mission of the NFF to promote the good in the game," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Their dedication and passion create a powerful presence for the NFF in their communities, making an impact and inspiring excellence on and off the field. We are excited to honor their exceptional commitment and sincere desire to give back."
 
With 120 chapters and more than 12,000 members, the NFF Chapter Network impacts more than 500,000 student-athletes at 5,000 high schools in 47 states each year. Collectively, the NFF chapters typically stage more than 300 annual events, celebrating the game and its unique ability to teach the values of leadership, teamwork and the drive to compete. The events include coaching clinics, leadership conferences, college nights, media days and local awards banquets that recognize more than 3,500 scholar-athletes and distribute more than $1 million in annual scholarships.

The Chapter Leadership Award recipients have spearheaded the efforts of their respective outposts: securing funds for scholarships; selecting the honorees; and staging events to benefit the young people who play football. Their efforts ensure that future generations of players are inspired to achieve on and off the field. Click here for the all-time list of NFF Chapter Leadership Award recipients.
 
   
While playing high school football in the late 1970s, John Barbarotta developed a love of the game that remains with him to this day as he has become one of the key advocates for amateur football in Connecticut over the past several decades.
 
"The National Football Foundation has given me the opportunity to participate and combine two of my life's passions: football and helping kids," said Barbarotta. "I truly believe every cliché you hear about football and how it builds character and teaches life lessons, including self-discipline, overcoming challenges, building camaraderie and teamwork through perseverance. I see it in every student-athlete who has come through our banquet doors each year. Every year, I am more impressed by our scholar-athletes and their accomplishments."
 
In 1995, Barbarotta became a member of the National Football Foundation, and he has served as the president of the NFF DeSantis-McDougall/Fairfield County (CT) Chapter since 2007. With Barbarotta at the helm, the NFF outpost, which was established in 1962, has maintained a strong presence. Each year, the chapter stages a scholar-athlete dinner, honoring the top 38 local high school student-athletes and distributing $4,000 in scholarships. At the event, the chapter also presents several major awards, including the Coach of the Year; Contributions to Amateur Football; Distinguished Service; Lifetime Achievement; and to the top Official in the region.
 
"The NFF's motto of Building Leaders Through Football is alive, and it is confirmed by every student-athlete who receives a scholar-athlete plaque or scholarship at our annual banquet," said Barbarotta. "I love and enjoy football on every level, especially high school and college.  Football has given me the chance to meet great people and to travel to many venues throughout our great country."
 
To raise its scholarship money, the chapter annually hosts a golf tournament, and it partners with the New Haven Chapter, sponsoring the Hall of Fame Summer Football Classic, a high school all-star football game held in July. The chapter's other activities include support of several high school clinics in the region.
 
Since the inception of the NFF Team of Distinction in 2018, which honors the top high school scholar-athlete from each chapter in the country, the outpost has placed a local honoree on the list every year, and prior to the award, the chapter saw multiple student-athletes honored as NFF National High School Scholar-Athletes, including Zach Allen from New Canaan High School in 2015, who went on to play at Boston College and now starts for the Arizona Cardinals, and Scooter Harrington from Greenwich High School in 2016, who went on to play at Stanford.
 
After graduating in 1981 from North Adams State College (now known as the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts) with a degree in sociology, Barbarotta quicky found an outlet to feed his football passion, joining the Walter Camp Football Foundation, which selects the oldest All-America team in the country. He has remained a key member of the prestigious organization, serving as its president from 2007 to 2009, and he is currently on the Board of Governors as a vice president and recently became the president-elect, which will make him the first two-time president in the 55-year history of the organization.  
 
An executive in the construction management business for more than 25 years, Barbarotta currently works as a project manager at Resource Recovery Systems (REA) in New Haven, Connecticut. He also serves as president of the Bianchi/Barbarotta Family Foundation, which benefits the youth of Berkshire County near his childhood home in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
 
An avid golfer who plays famous courses whenever the opportunity arises, Barbarotta lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, Audrey. He has a son Jayson, daughter-in-law Kristen and granddaughter Reese.
 
   
There is no higher calling than impacting the life of a young person, and Tony Cocca has done it in multiple roles for four decades, first as a coach in the Lehigh Valley and subsequently as a key leader in the NFF Chapter Network.
 
"The game of football got me a great education and has given me a tremendous career," said Cocca. "Being an NFF member allows me to give back to this great game. Our Lehigh Valley Chapter is great, and I just happen to be part of the leadership group who helps keep this tremendous game at the forefront in this part of Pennsylvania."
 
Established in 1961, the NFF Lehigh Valley Chapter annually honors the top scholar-athletes from 34 high schools and six colleges and universities in the region. Cocca joined the outpost in 1993, taking over the presidency five years ago, and the chapter has thrived under his leadership.
 
To recognize the honorees, the chapter stages a scholar-athlete banquet each spring while also using the platform for inducting the local greats into its prestigious regional Hall of Fame. Previous gridiron greats who have been inducted include College Football Hall of Famers Lou Michaels (Kentucky), Dennis Onkotz (Penn State) and Chuck Bednarik (Penn) who all played locally during their high school days.
 
Cocca's love of football began as a three-year letterman at Whitehall High School in the Lehigh Valley during the late 1960s. After graduating in 1968, he entered nearby Kutztown University, playing two more seasons before an injury cut his career short.
 
After graduating from college, he began a 35-year run as a coach in the Lehigh Valley region, first as an assistant football and track coach for eight years at Whitehall. He then spent eight years at Muhlenberg College as a defensive line coach and assistant track coach before returning to Whitehall in 1993 as the head coach for the football and softball teams. In nine seasons, his Whitehall football teams claimed the 1997 District 11 Championship as well as a league crown and two conference titles. Cocca's coaching tenure in the region also included stints at Moravian University, Northampton Community College and Nazareth High School.
 
He retired from the sidelines after the 2019 season. With a reputation for being humble and affable, Cocca attributes his coaching success to his players.
 
"I got so much out of helping kids it was just a great learning experience," said Cocca at the time of his retirement during an WFMZ-TV interview. "I tried to help the kids understand that sports is just another step in life, and 99% of my kids went on to good lives and they're good parents today. They call me up and they tell me: 'Coach, you don't know what it meant to me to have you as a mentor.' That's the kind of stuff that makes me feel good… The athlete makes the coach. The coach doesn't make the athlete."
 
Cocca has also worked locally as a sports broadcaster and ran the Whitehall Township Recreation Department. In 2007, he opened College Assistance Plus of the Valley, which helps students and their parents apply for college financial aid. Cocca lives in Whitehall with his wife, Monica. They have three sons, Brian, John and Michael, and five grandchildren.
 
   
Benefiting from playing football for 14 years growing up, including as a Division I college player at Navy, Ken Leach believes the game serves as a powerful vehicle for teaching life lessons and creating career opportunities for those who compete on the gridiron.
 
"Football provides a terrific learning ground for life," said Leach, who currently serves as president of the NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter. "I love chess and I love the game of football. I have drawn numerous similarities [with each chess piece mirroring a different position on the gridiron]. The chess player is like the coach, strategically plotting and orchestrating the effectiveness of each piece."
 
Behind Leach's leadership, the Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter has remained a driving force throughout the St. Louis football community, bringing together leaders involved at the youth, high school, college and professional levels to support the game from a 150-mile radius. Founded in 1992, the chapter impacts thousands of high school, middle school and grade school students with a myriad of programs that successfully carry out the mission of the National Football Foundation.
 
Each year, the outpost honors the top 11 area football players, presenting each with a $1,500 scholarship and recognizing them at the chapter's annual awards banquet in May. The chapter holds a monthly luncheon at Lombardo's airport restaurant, organized by former Chapter President Bob Bunton, featuring high-profile speakers such as 2022 College Football Hall of Fame electee Coach Gary Pinkel, current Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz and former Kansas State head coach and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Bill Snyder who participated via Zoom during COVID. To raise money for its scholarships, the chapter also holds an annual golf tournament. "It's a team effort", said Leach.
 
The chapter is named for St. Louis native Tom Lombardo who captained Coach Earl Blaik's 1944 Army team that compiled a perfect undefeated season. Lieutenant Lombardo was killed in action while leading his troops in battle during the Korean War.
 
A graduate from Indiana State and the United States Naval Academy, Leach played wide receiver at Annapolis for Hall of Fame Coach George Welsh. After his military service, Leach became a sales and marketing representative for several businesses, most recently as the Midwest Regional Sales Director at the Compass Group, which provides food service and maintenance solutions for educational institutions. He recently retired and he currently serves as the vice chairman on the board of Neighbor's Credit Union.
 
When not playing his 12-string guitar or chess, Leach is involved with a myriad of community activities, including interviewing potential candidates for the Naval Academy for more than 20 years as a volunteer Blue and Gold Officer. He founded the non-profit Oakville Junior Tigers Football League, where he has coached middle school football feeder programs for 11 years.
 
Leach has served as the executive director of the Amateur Football Council and on the Mehlville Board of Education. In 2019, he was inducted into the Mehlville School District Alumni Hall of Fame for making a lasting impact on the community and serving as role model for current and future generations.
 
Married to his wife Diana for 28 years, Leach and his wife have a son Trevor and daughter Sabreena.
 
 
   
Having never played organized football, Jim Lofdahl has become a fierce proponent for the game and the positive impact it has on the community and those who play it.
 
"I believe in our youth who will become the future leaders of our communities," said Lofdahl, president of the NFF San Fernando Valley Chapter. "The game of football, at all levels, helps to develop the character and the ability to lead, which makes for great business leaders in our communities."
 
Founded in 1974, the NFF San Ferando Valley Chapter has annually honored 40 to 60 high school players from the region just north of Los Angeles each year while distributing $5,000 a year in scholarships. Notable past keynote speakers at the event have included Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer John Huarte from Notre Dame. Since the inception of the NFF Team of Distinction in 2018, which honors the top high school scholar-athlete from each chapter in the country, the outpost has placed a local honoree on the list every year.
 
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Nebraska in 1962, Lofdahl worked as a research engineer on the Apollo Program at NASA, creating computer simulations for three years. For the next 25 years, he held sales and management positions, marketing large scale computers at Scientific Data Systems, Xerox Data Systems, Honeywell and Bull Information Systems.
 
Lofdahl joined the NFF in 1978, first becoming chapter president from 1983-85. In 1992, he became chairman, and in 2000, he resumed his role as president, a position he still holds today.
 
Lofdahl enjoys golf and is involved with the local chapters of the VFW and Kiwanis., Lofdahl has one son, two daughters and three grandchildren.
 
   
Growing up and playing football at Natchez High School, Freddie Sandel returned home in 2011 after a 40-year career as a manager with International Paper. Looking for a way to give back to the community, Sandel connected with two local football legends, Joe Fortunato and Allen Brown, who both played in the NFL and headed the local NFF Miss-Lou Chapter. They opened the door, and Sandel jumped at the chance to become an active member of the chapter.
 
"Joe Fortunato and Allen Brown asked me to join, and throughout my life, I never met anyone more dedicated to the youth of our community than these two men," said Sandel. "They taught me the value of giving back to the community through amateur sports."
 
After Fortunato, a 2004 NFF Chapter Leadership Award recipient, passed away in 2017, Sandel became president while also serving as the treasurer and secretary, and he continues to expand upon the powerful legacy built by his predecessors.
 
"The local NFF chapter gives me the opportunity to give back to my community where I grew up and went to school," said Sandel. "There is nothing more satisfying than to watch the expression on each young man's face, high school and junior high, when they are introduced at our banquet. To some of these young scholar-athletes, our banquet is a 'once in a lifetime' event."
 
The chapter, established in 1981, serves both the high schools in the Natchez area of Mississippi as well as several of the schools just across the Mississippi River in Louisiana. The chapter recognizes high school and junior high school student-athletes, presenting the younger cohort with certificates. The top high school seniors receive scholarships, which totaled $11,000 this past February. The chapter also presents a Distinguished American and Contribution to Amateur Football awards at the event.
 
Past keynote speakers have included NFF Chairman and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Archie Manning and college coaches David Cutcliffe, Hugh Freeze, Dan Mullen, Houston Nutt and Ed Orgeron. To raise money for its scholarships, the chapter annually stages the highly popular two-day Joe Fortunato Golf Tournament each May.
 
A graduate of Mississippi State University, Sandel earned a degree in chemical engineering. An avid hunter, Sandel is president of the Cypress Grove Hunting Club. A member of the Assumption BVM Catholic Church Pastoral Council in Natchez, he serves as president of the church's finance council.
 
In 2016, the NFF Miss-Lou Chapter recognized Sandel's contributions and accomplishments, presenting him with its Distinguished American Award. In 2021, Sandel represented the NFF during the NFF Hall of On-Campus Salute for the late Steve McNair at Alcorn State.
 
Sandel has been married to his wife Pamela for 48 years, and they have three children: Vanessa, Lewie III, and Jay; and four grandchildren.