Soccer Tournament at Donovan Park!

Soccer teams compete in NEAT tournament
MIDDLETOWN — Six soccer teams competed Sunday for a $500 prize in a tournament organized by the North End Action Team.

Held at Donovan Park, behind Macdonough School, the tournament was lively, even in the hot afternoon sun. Sounds of Latin music and the smell of hot dogs grilling wafted down the street as spectators gathered along the fence and passersby watched from the sidewalk.

NEAT offered free food and cold drinks to the players, who formed their own teams for the double-elimination tournament. There was so much interest, they had to turn people away, said Nick Petrie, community organizer with NEAT.

Petrie said he would like the tournament to become an annual event.

NEAT also holds basketball tournaments at the school on Fridays, and the soccer tournament was organized to reach out to the large Latino community in the North End, said Petrie.

NEAT is a neighborhood organization dedicated to improving quality of life in the North End.
Jennifer Sprague

Reprinted with permission from the Middletown Press.