Chan is not to be taken lightly

Competition and gametime is what lightweight football is all about for Zach Chan After his senior year at Piedmont (Calif.) High School in which he earned all-league football honors, Zach Chan never expected to play organized football again. In the fall of his freshman year at Penn, he tried to feed his competitiveness by taking tai kwon do classes. "They were the hardest workouts of my life," Chan recalled. "I had bruises all over my ribs after practices. At one competition, two guys got knocked out." While Chan enjoyed the contact aspect of the sport, he was more excited when several brothers in Delta Kappa Epsilon, the fraternity he was pledging, introduced him to the Penn sport at which he has excelled, lightweight football. Chan's feeling that his football career had ended in high school was one with which most of his lightweight teammates can identify. He is grateful for the chance to participate, which many Penn students may miss simply because they don't know that lightweight football exists. "I wish more people knew about it," Chan said. "People are surprised sometimes when I tell them, 'yes, we wear pads, and helmets, just like the heavies'. "[Playing lightweight football] is like a second chance for me." Last year Chan earned first team all-Eastern Lightweight Football League honors at the defensive end position. This year he will lend his hands to the offensive side of the ball as the starting tight end. It won't be a stretch for him -- he caught passes as a wide receiver for Piedmont. "In lightweight, you get to play lots of positions you never would have in high school," Chan said. "My sophomore year I played free safety, and last year I played defensive end? so I could sack the quarterback. I'm sure I'll miss defense." Last season Penn's lightweight team had difficulty scoring on offense. Twice the Quakers were shut out, and once they could muster only six points. Chan believes that he can be more valuable to the team by moving from the defense to the offense. Senior wide receiver Clint Schmidt shares that opinion, and he believes that wherever Chan plays, he'll make an impact. "He could play any position on the field except quarterback," Schmidt said. However, not every one of Chan's teammates was excited about his switch. "It broke my heart when he stopped playing defensive end," junior linebacker Mike Steib said. "[Chan] set the tone on defense? He was the real leader." Coach Bill Wagner defended his reasons for switching Chan to offense. "Zach's got great hands and speed? and he's a very strong blocker," Wagner said. And even Steib, who will sorely miss Chan on defense, recognize that Chan has the potential to be a potent offensive force. "Zach is already a better tight end than anyone I've played against here," Steib said. Senior quarterback Matt Veneri plans to make good use of his new tight end. "Zach will be one of my favorite targets," Veneri said. "He'll definitely fill the shoes of the late great [first team all-ELFL tight end] Todd Whiteneck." Some increased scoring could push the team over the .500 record that has eluded them in past years. Chan wants desperately to avenge last year's loss to the Tigers in the season finale by beating them both times Penn and Princeton battle. The Tigers battle and hope to beat one of the powerful academies, Navy and Army. Regardless of the team's record, though, Chan lives for the thrill of each game. "The essence of lightweight is the games," Chan said. "That's why we put up with being kicked off practice fields for other teams. It's all about the high you get after competing." Even though home crowds range only in the low hundreds, Chan still gets satisfaction from playing for the crowd, especially knowing that he's playing in front of his closest friends, his DKE brothers. Chan estimated that about eight brothers from his house play lightweight football, including fellow co-captains Schmidt and Joel Correia. Chan's most frustrating memory was of last season's Navy game. It is one experience that will motivate Chan in this year's games. "We played harder that game than any other, but by the fourth quarter we were too tired," Chan said. "Everybody said how well we played, and I could walk off the field with my head held high? but we still lost."