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06/18/2018 12:00 AMEvery year, the incoming seniors on the North Haven High School football team organize the annual Spring Brawl fundraiser to raise money for a local person or charity in need of support. This year, the Indians’ athletes banded together to host the Spring Brawl in support of Cameron Wilson, a two year-old North Haven resident who was diagnosed with leukemia last October. On June 15, the 14th annual Spring Brawl kicked off at Vanacore Field, where people packed the stands to show support to Wilson and his family, while watching North Haven’s athletes face each other in a scrimmage.
Wilson is the grandson of Reese Varney, a custodian at North Haven High School. Last year, head custodian Eddie Vona told Indians’ Head Coach Anthony Sagnella about Wilson’s situation, and Sagnella thought it would be a great idea to make Wilson the beneficiary of the Spring Brawl. Sagnella reached out to Varney, the family agreed, and the wheels were set in motion. All the proceeds from the event will go to Wilson and his family to help defray the costs of his treatment.
“There are so many people needy people and so many charities, and so for them to treat us the way they did and select my grandson, I am at a loss for words,” said Varney, who is also a volunteer firefighter in town. “North Haven High School is truly a family with their staff and the students. The football team has always been a great bunch of kids, and that always starts at the top. They are great role models for the underclassmen and even the elementary-school kids. They always put somebody else in front of themselves.”
Varney attended the Spring Brawl with his wife Lori, as well as Wilson’s parents, Jessica and Brendan. Together, they stood at the 50-yard line to watch Wilson do the ceremonial coin toss prior to the start of the game. With everything that Wilson and his family have been dealing with, Varney said it was touching to see a smile on his grandson’s face.
“We were feeling great,” he said. “For an hour or so, we forgot what Cameron was going through. It was just a little boy watching a football game and having the time of his life,” Varney said. “And to see all the people who came out to support us, it was a grateful feeling. It was nice to get out there and see Cameron having such a nice time and everybody enjoying it along with him.”
Varney appreciates how hard North Haven’s players worked to organize this year’s Spring Brawl. Varney knows they spent a lot of time putting in the legwork, while balancing their responsibilities on both the playing field and in the classroom.
“This wasn’t a day or two planning this. These guys have been working hard and pounding the pavement by getting donations, selling shirts, selling bracelets—doing everything they could,” he said. “They took on a huge task and did it very well.”
The Indians’ effort was led by the 18 members of the team’s senior class, including its captains for the upcoming fall season: Devan Brockamer, Vinny DePalma, Nick Dodge, Eli Doheny, and Shamus Meehan. Dodge scored a pair of touchdowns for Team Maroon in the scrimmage. Meehan found the end zone three times, including the game-winning TD in overtime, to lead Team White to a 20-14 victory. Brockamer, who rushed for a 2-point conversion for Team Maroon, said the Spring Brawl is always a special event to be part of. Brockamer felt honored that he was one of the people who helped the event come to fruition as his senior season approaches.
“Doing the Brawl every year is a huge part of bringing the team together as one unit, on and off the field, especially when you’re doing something so great for such a good cause. It’s such a good thing to be a part of,” Brockamer said. “It’s definitely more emotional knowing that you will be a senior and you’re coming up on your last year. When you get to be more involved in the direction of who will be benefited from the brawl, it’s more emotional because you begin to have an even tighter connection than you did in past years.”
Coach Sagnella felt proud of his athletes for dedicating themselves to make the 2018 Spring Brawl take shape. Sagnella said they represented North Haven football with class by displaying great selflessness throughout the process.
“The backbone to any good team is humility. You have to be willing to put others ahead of yourself, not only in sports, but also in life, and this event was an opportunity to facilitate that throughout our entire community,” Sagnella said. “The seniors and the captains take the lead on this project every year. They have to be the face of our program, get out into the community, and conduct themselves like adults. They did an outstanding job, and the event was a huge success.”
It means a lot to Sagnella that the Spring Brawl uses football to bring the community together and support people who need help. That sentiment really rang true for North Haven’s coach as he saw Wilson enjoying himself on the field.
“I have a tremendous amount of pride for our community and our program, and to include Cameron and his family and see the joy in their faces, I just felt really good about being part of North Haven,” said Sagnella. “It was a great event. It was everything that I hoped this event could turn into.”
Varney isn’t originally from North Haven, but he’s lived in town since the early 90s, and says his fellow residents have adopted him as one of their own. At this year’s Spring Brawl, it was as if everyone at Vanacore Field adopted Cameron Wilson for one day by providing him and his family with an overwhelming wave of love and support.
“North Haven is a very homegrown town. For them to come out and show support to my grandson and my family is something that I’m very thankful for,” Varney said. “I could never thank them enough.”
To make a donation in support of Wilson, please make a check payable to North Haven High School, c/o Anthony Sagnella, with ‘Spring Brawl’ written in the memo, and mail it to 221 Elm St., North Haven, CT, 06473.
From the Sidelines
This year marked the eighth time that the Spring Brawl served as a fundraiser. In the last seven years, the event raised approximately $60,000 in support of Special Olympics Connecticut, The Benhaven Group for Autism, the late Matthew Jacques, Anthony Longley, Hunter Pageau, the building of a new playground at Green Acres Elementary School, and Amelia DePino.
The other members of North Haven’s incoming senior class who helped organize the event are Hanny Akil, Kevin Anasoulis, Anthony Bello, Ashkan Bradaranhagh, Alex Ciaburro, Robert Farley, Dainer Guzman, Albert Hooks, Darren Major, Louis Mineri, Marcus Moore, Noah Pastore, Brandon Sanzone,
The honorary coach for Team White this year was Steve Narracci, Sr., a North Haven resident who recently retired following a 59-year career as an official that included 17 years as head of the New Haven Football Officials Association. Team Maroon’s honorary coach was Billy Mitchell, a longtime member of the North Haven Tomahawk Booster Club. The assistant coaches for both teams were football players from the Indians’ Class of 2018.