Haley Welch suspected it was broken back in April, while playing lacrosse for Nichols.

But you know how athletes are. Welch ran through the pain and the season. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago when she finally went for an X-ray.

Sure enough, Welch had fractured the sesamoid bone in her right foot. The doctor told her she had to stay off the foot for several weeks.

"I told him no, I need to play Empires because I've been working for it all summer," Welch said.

The doctor relented. He told Welch she couldn't run, but she could get around the ice in a hockey skate without risking further damage. So that's why Welch, 16, was hobbling around in a black medical boot Wednesday night, waiting to march into UB Stadium with her Western teammates for the Empire State Games' Opening Ceremonies.

"I wasn't going to wear the boot," Welch said with a laugh. "But I realized we're going to do a lot of walking, so I had to wear the boot or it would have been really sore tomorrow. ... I wouldn't miss this for anything."

Welch and the other athletes did more walking than expected. About an hour before the 7 p.m. start, a brief shot of thunder and lightning caused Games officials to move the athletes inside Alumni Arena, just to be safe.

Twenty minutes later, after gathering briefly in the bleachers and on the floor of the arena, athletes from the six New York regions returned to the soccer field behind the stadium and began assembling for the march into the stadium.

The march of athletes is an early high point of the Games, a time when the state's finest athletes get to feel like Olympians. This year, it felt a little extra special for the Western contingent, which gets to host the event after its troubling one-year hiatus.

"It's just very exciting to be in Buffalo," said Brittany Heist, a Lancaster High graduate who plays for the Western Open women's soccer team. "We have family members here, coaches, even teachers who come to watch. It's great to be on the home turf and have a fan base here."

About 15,000 fans were on hand for the ceremonies, which was among the largest crowds in the 32-year history of the event. It was Buffalo's way of telling the rest of New York, "These Games matter. We were the first state in the country to do this, and we can't let it die."

You only had to look in the eyes of the athletes as they waited fretfully outside the stadium to know how much the Games mean to them. Some were competing for the first time. Some had been here many times as players or coaches, or both. But for all of them, marching into the stadium is an athletic validation.

"This is my first Empire Games," said Eric Stolzenburg, a Williamsville East junior who pitches for the scholastic baseball squad. "I'm pretty pumped. It does have that Olympic feel, with people from different parts of New York, different areas, different sports. It's a nice blend of people."

Terry Miller, head coach of the Western ice hockey team, continues a long family tradition in the Empires. His brother Aaron won gold. Aaron, a long-time NHL defenseman, also won a silver medal for the U.S. at the Olympics. Their father, Bill, won gold as an Empires coach. Brother Mark is an assistant for the Western team.

"So the Empire Games have meant a lot to my family," Miller said. "I know how much the Games have meant to a lot of people across the state. So I couldn't imagine it being canceled forever. So many people have been touched by the Games."

"You know what?" said Bill Agronin, the Western open women's basketball coach. "The Empires are great because the people who come want to play. They have a passion to play and they police themselves."

Agronin coached the Niagara women's team for years. He's happily retired from college coaching, but still gets a kick out of gunning for gold in the summer. This is his fifth Empire Games. His teams have won three golds and a silver.

"The standard is pretty high," Agronin said. "But it's just fun doing it. It's a real tribute to [late Western director] Lou Reuter for all the work he did. I'm just glad they're back, and I'm really glad they're in Buffalo."

Typical of this area, things went off smoothly despite a weather scare. The teams began marching into the stadium around 7:10. It was around 7:30 when Buffalo native Steve Mesler, who won gold in bobsled at the Vancouver Olympics, led the Western team into the stadium to a rousing welcome.

Clare Crowley, one of Agronin's players, lit the cauldron to signal the start of the Games. Crowley, 29, is the basketball coach at Williamsville North. Four of her high school players are competing in the Games -- all in other sports.

It was a fitting choice. Watching Crowley ignite the cauldron, you were reminded that the spark of competition still burns within our local athletes, long after their high school or college days are behind them. It's why the Games are worth preserving.

Heist will be a junior on the Boston University soccer team next fall. She said the women from the Western team were talking Wednesday about getting back together in 10 years to play in the Empires. How much longer can she keep doing this?

"This?" Heist said. "Oh, until I can't play any more."

jsullivan@buffnews.comnull