This past weekend was an exciting one. The NFP team put on the Walter Camp Breakfast of Champions at the Omni Hotel in New Haven, CT. In addition, we were in attendance for the Walter Camp National Awards Dinner that same evening.
Walter Camp Breakfast of Champions
The NFP team has been working on the Breakfast of Champions for weeks before the event gathering video, conducting interviews, and organizing the order of events. It wasn’t easy, but watching it get put in motion on Saturday felt great.
To kickoff the event, Walter Camp President Tony Mortali gave a speech and was followed up by Heisman Trophy winner and Walter Camp Player of the Year Caleb Williams who stopped by to quickly address the crowd.
As attendees finished their breakfast, the events emcee Erik Dobratz took over and began to acknowledge the athletes who were named Player of the Week for their respected conferences. Once those talented young men took their photos and received their certificates, we got into the Walter Camp Inspiration Award. This years recipient was Woodstock Academy Braiden Saucier. In a week one game against Enfield High School, Braiden went into cardiac arrest and was transported to Baystate Medical Center. He underwent bypass surgery and a lengthy recovery, but was able to take the final snap of the season with his team and is back playing basketball for the Centaurs. It was a truly moving story.
Following the Inspiration Award, Hall of Fame offensive tackle and Walter Camp Man of the Year Tony Boselli spoke to the attendees about his commitment to the game and how hard work and dedication can take you to the next level. It was awesome hearing from such a great player.
Once Tony Boselli exited the stage, we received two speeches from Connecticut natives. First was coach John Marinelli who coached high school football at Greenwich and then in college at Arizona and Illinois before arriving at UConn as the passing game coordinator. His speech talked about the brotherhood that is CT football while also giving some light hearted jabs to his father, coach Lou Marinelli.
After coach John Marinellis speech, New Canaan alum, former Notre Dame quarterback, and current Arizona State quarterback Drew Pyne took the stage. Drew was this years Connecticut Player of the Year. He addressed the audience about how it’s so special being able to play on Friday nights with your friends and tacked onto Bosellis speech about how important hard work is.
When the speeches came to an end, we rolled into the Lifetime Achievement Award. This years recipient was legendary high school coach Chuck Drury who has been coaching in the state for over forty five years. He has been an outstanding mentor and role model to young men and women across the state for years and we thank him for that.
At this point of the breakfast, it was time to recognize the All Connecticut First and Second teams.
Once those very talented individuals took their photos and received their certificates, it came time to honor the State Championship teams and also present the Kelly Award for the best team in the state of Connecticut to Greenwich. Greenwich went 11-2 on the season and beat Fairfield Prep in the State Championship.
As the breakfast began to wind down, we reached the most anticipated point. It was time to announce the player and coach of the year award. For Coach of the Year, the three finalists were Anthony Sagnella from North Haven, Tom Brockett from Ansonia, and TJ Cavaliere from Joel Barlow. Coach Anthony Sagnella from North Haven took home the award. Coach Sagnella lead the Nighthawks to an 8-2 regular season record and then went on to win the Class MM State title beating Killingly 51-34.
For Player of the Year, the three finalists were John Neider from Jonathan Law, Danny Shaban from Joel Barlow, and Jacob Stanton from Notre Dame West Haven. After the introduction video, it was announced that John Neider was the Connecticut Player of the Year. Neider has cleaned up this award season as he’s taken home CHSCA Player of the Year, Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year, and now Walter Camp Player of the Year. Neider recently committed to play football in state next season for Jim Mora and the UConn Huskies.
That was the conclusion of the Walter Camp Breakfast of Champions. We want to thank all of our sponsors, speakers, and athletes who helped make this amazing event possible year after year. We’re looking forward to next year!
Careers At NFP Sports
Here at NFP Sports, we’re looking to expand our team! We’re looking for employees on the fundraising, marketing, and content sides. For fundraising, we’re searching for highly motivated individuals who want to get into sales or have prior sales experience. On the marketing side, we’re looking for people that have some understandings of social media to help with digital marketing. On the content front, we would love to be able to hire a photographer to attend sporting events and banquets to take high quality photos. This is a great opportunity to build a portfolio. In addition, we’re looking for writers, people who have experience with digital media and making graphics, along with videographers.
If you want to apply, goto our updates website, nfpsportsconnecticut.com.
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If you’re interested in fundraising with NFP or looking to work with us on the sports marketing front, you can send an email to james@nfpbrands.com.