Soccer Forward Fest: New Britain Hosts Community Day on World Cup Weekend

By John McNamara – nbpoliticus.com

New Britain’s Osgood Park was host to a “Soccer Forward Fest” on July 17th at the start of World Cup Finals Weekend “to celebrate the power of soccer to bring people together.”

The event brought youth and young adult players, coaches, families and soccer fans together from Greater Hartford. The Community Day featured youth soccer skills and drills sessions, a free family cookout, a back-to-school backpack donation drive by the United Way of Central and Northeastern CT and a match between Sporting CT and Hartford City Football Club’ first teams, two clubs comprised of young adults that compete in amateur leagues.

The Parks and Recreation Department hosted the collaborative event that involved the fast-growing New Britain Youth Soccer Club, the Hartford City Football Club (Hartford FC), the Police Athletic League (PAL) and the United Way’s Onward860 Initiative.

Soccer Forward Fest Community Day: Top left: officials bring players from Sporting CT of Middletown and Hartford City Football Club together at start of soccer match. Top right: Players from NB Youth soccer practice skills and drills before the match. Center photo: Game action between Sporting CT and Hartford City. Bottom photo: Coach and players from Hartford City huddle before the match. (NB Politicus photos)

Hartford City FC, originally established in 2015, has evolved into a grassroots, nonprofit soccer organization that partners with United Way with a motto, “One Life to Give,” based on the words of Nathan Hale to “reflect themes of courage, service, and commitment” to the community. It provides members with an opportunity to play and compete at the amateur level and organizes leagues from September to June across Greater Hartford including co-ed, over-30, over-40, women’s and corporate divisions. In collaboration with NBSL and the city, Hartford City FC has scheduled matches this year on New Britain fields and seeks a partnership to make New Britain a regional home for its “accessible, high-quality” soccer programs in central Connecticut.

New Britain Soccer Club (NBSL) engages children and youth in spring and fall programs and organizes travel teams to compete with other towns as a member organization of Connecticut Junior Soccer Association (CJSA). According to an estimate from the CJSA, there are more than 130 youth clubs and 40,000 registered participants in Connecticut.