'Huddle Shuttle' Coming to Garden City

As the metro area preps for the 2014 Super Bowl at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, the fever will hit Garden City when the "Join the Huddle" tour makes a pit stop in the village on Homecoming Oct. 26.

A 64 foot by 8 foot replica of a stadium locker room will arrive early Saturday morning and set up shop in Parking Field 7N (this is the tentative location). The locker room will have Jets, Giants, Super Bowl and Vince Lombardi memorabilia on display, as well as a Vince Lombardi Trophy Room and a broadcast booth.

Residents young and old alike can test their agility on a 100 foot by 80 foot area complete with a turf field. Test your basic football drills, including speed and agility, and make the call at a referee simulation station.

"I think this will be an exciting addition to Homecoming Day," trustee Dennis Donnelly said, "and I'm sure all of the kids in town will really get a big kick out of this."

Every fan who attends the “Join the Huddle” tour will receive an RFID technology sweat band that will track activity progress throughout the experience. As fans swipe the sweatband at each station, photos and videos will be saved. Fans will receive a digital player card with personal photos and statistics at the end of the visit, according to the NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee.

Alfred Kelly, committee CEO, believes the mobile tour, the first ever associated with the Super Bowl, is the "best way for fans to interact with the Super Bowl without actually being there."

The tour is expected to make at least 48 stops throughout the next five months.

Garden City High School's Homecoming parade steps off at 1 p.m. on Seventh Street, making its way through the Garden City Chamber of Commerce's annual fall festival street fair to Warren King Field. The Trojans take on South Side at 3 p.m.

"It's going to be iconic," Mayor John Watras said of the day.