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06/16/2016 12:00 AMNo matter how well he performed for the Thunderbirds’ football, hockey, and baseball teams, Matt Chamberlain was always quick to deflect the credit in the direction of his teammates and coaches. Matt says he did that because he knows he never would have achieved such success without their guidance and support.
“It’s great knowing that I’m getting recognized, but at the same time, I feel bad because I know a lot of other guys that should be recognized for what they’ve done. My friends who work just as hard deserve the spotlight, too, and I hate taking that way from them,” says Matt, who recently graduated from North Branford High School. “Accolades mean a lot, but not as much as winning. I’d rather give everyone else as much credit as I could, like my coaches Mark Basil, Ralph Shaw, Vin DiGioia, and Billy Mitchell.”
Matt has compiled quite the array of accolades throughout his time as a T-Bird. On the gridiron, Matt was named All-Pequot Conference, earned his team’s Joe Stone Award for going above and beyond, and was also the Defensive MVP of the Harvest Bowl last fall. After earning All-SCC/SWC Third Team distinction and All-State Honorable Mention as a junior for the hockey squad, Matt was a Second Team All-Conference and All-State player this past winter. For the baseball team, Matt made First Team All-Shoreline Conference and All-State in back-to-back years.
“For the most part, I loved it. I liked being leaned on for all the sports and liked being a leader because it gave me confidence,” says Matt. “That was something I took pride in. It felt like more pressure on me, but I kept it under control.”
Matt amassed his honors while competing for several successful teams at North Branford. Matt’s football squad made the state final in his junior year and the ice hockey team reached the state championship game in each of the past two seasons.
“For football, the winning season we had, I wasn’t a key player, but I wanted to do my part and be a part of the team. I wanted to do my job and do it right. That state championship was absolutely insane. It didn’t end up in our favor, but seeing the whole school come out was an awesome experience,” says Matt. “The second hockey championship was the most memorable to me because I was a senior. The year before, I was playing for seniors, so I was dedicating myself for them, but this year, it was for myself and fellow teammates. Taking it all in, seeing student body, alumni, and parents come out just because you made it to some game was incredible. To come back [to tie it] with five minutes left, I couldn’t even speak because I was screaming so loud. To lose the way we did [in overtime], I’m not ashamed at all, but proud we made it that far two years in a row. We had the entire town of North Branford on its toes. The whole season was everything I could’ve asked for. Even though we lost, I don’t care. Just making it there was awesome.”
Matt caught 50 passes for 652 yards and eight touchdowns on the football field. He also picked off eight passes and returned two of them for TDs. On the ice, Matt had four goals and 11 assists as the T-Birds’ top defenseman as a senior. In baseball, Matt led North Branford in batting average, home runs, runs scored, on-base percentage, stolen bases, and outfield assists after moving from the No. 3 hole to the leadoff spot this spring.
“It was a pretty big change. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it changed my approach a lot,” says Matt. “Last year, I’d think gapers to get the runs in. I’d be a cleanup guy for our cleanup guy. But this year was more of get on base, score runs.”
Matt was a captain for all three of his teams and baseball coach Billy Mitchell feels Matt did a great job with how he led his Thunderbirds this season.
“Of all the captains that I’ve had, he epitomizes the term ‘captain.’ He took it very seriously. He was a leader on the team and helped all the younger players, which he’s still doing,” says Mitchell. “This year, we juggled something around and moved him to the first spot in the order and he embraced it. He was happy with it and enjoyed leading off for the team.”
Matt knows how important leadership is and so he always wanted to do the right things to set the best example for his younger teammates.
“I was always a kid that was nice to the younger guys. I don’t want to be their captain. I wanted to be their friends. For hockey, our coach would tell me and [fellow captain Adam] Burkle, ‘They’re always watching,’” says Matt. “I didn’t understand it until halfway through the year, when I slammed my stick on the ice and, when I turned around, I saw my freshman teammate did, too. I saw it was monkey see monkey do, so I carried that mentality over to baseball. I held myself up and, when my teammates would throw their helmet or slam their bat, I’d put a stop to it. I’d make sure I held my head high and really focused a lot on setting the right example.”
Matt has decided to play baseball in college. Next year, he will join teammates Mike Funaro and Will Coleman at Division III Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.
“I didn’t really get heavily recruited as much as I wanted to, so it was more of I knew they had a good program and I knew kids on the team,” says Matt. “I visited and liked the school, so I decided to play there. I liked the field, the coach, and made my decision. I slowly started to think, ‘They’re really good and I want to play there.’”