The Nitros are heading to the President’s Cup

The Naugatuck U15B soccer team, a local town team have earned their way to compete in the Presidents Cup in Wichita Kansas this July. They fought so hard to get here, first winning the CT State cup, then winning the Eastern Regional championship and now they want to go all the way and win the Presidents Cup. Naugatuck is a small town and the Nitros are a local rec team with no sponsorships or clubs to help out on the costs. The only way for the boys to get there is for them to earn the money to go. Please consider donating to help make these boys dreams come true. The Little Team that Could I am writing to you with a feel good story of the little team that could. My name is Michelle Grella and I am the manager for the U15 boys soccer team in Naugatuck. We are a local rec team who just won the United States Youth Soccer Regionals (USYS) of the President’s Cup. Our local rec team went up against elite academy and premier teams to go undefeated throughout the whole tournament. Let me tell you a little about our boys. Most of them have been playing together since they were 4 years old. They were not star players at the beginning but they worked at every practice and got a little better each time. Then a few years ago a team of coaches came into their lives and made these boys a family and then an undefeatable team. They practiced every day on and off the field. They practiced in the pouring rain, in the cold and in the heat and not one of them complained. They gave up homecoming dances, socials, and late nights to be ready for games. They worked and worked and came together to start winning. In 2022 this team won the Ct State Cup which qualified them for the 2023 Regionals in Pennsylvania. They were the only local town rec team there and no one thought they would be any competition until they saw us play. Before you know it we were undefeated and had earned our way to the semifinals. The game went into overtime and then into penalty kicks. It was an amazing victory for our little team that could. On Tuesday June 6th the boys played in the biggest game of their lives. They knew they wanted it and came out swinging. A goal within the first 2 minutes by us gave us the boost we needed to take the game in a 4-0 win. We made Naugatuck history as the first team to win the regionals and be headed on to the finals. The extra special part of this story is how the boys came together as a family for one of their teammates. When at the end of the first game the keeper got hit so hard it caused a concussion and he had to sit out the rest of the tournament the boys rallied around him and made sure he felt part of every game and celebration. They went so far as to have practice shirts made within one day with the player’s name on it so that he knew they were going to win this for him. That’s the kind of team and kind of boys that we should all be proud of. Now we want to get our boys to Kansas for the Presidential Cup. This involves a great deal of money as you can imagine and we only have 15 days in which to raise it. We are looking for any help or sponsorships that we can get. We also want to get our story out there to inspire other teams and players to know that you don’t have to come from fancy clubs to make a big impact. Michelle Grella Naugatuck Nitros U15b team manager [phone redacted] [email redacted]