Unsung Heroes #433

The Staples Gridiron Club nominates the Wrecker football team as this week’s Unsung Heroes, for their offseason community service. The club writes:

In early December the Staples football team was eliminated from the state championship playoffs by their rivals, Greenwich High School.

On the field, the season was over. But off it, a new season was just beginning.

Head coach Matty Jacowleff — a Staples 2014 graduate — began installing his most important playbook. He calls it “4 for 40”: the 4 years spent playing football at Staples will benefit the student-athlete for the next 40 years.

Sure, Jacowleff said, they had to get stronger and faster as athletes. But they also had to get stronger in the classroom, and become leaders in the community.

Home games attract 3,000 fans on a Friday night. It was time for the football program to give back to the community that supports them.

Over the winter and into the spring, players were offered weekly service opportunities. Sophomore parent Cher Carroll helped organize the outreach.

The results are as impressive as anything that happens on the field.

Players headed to Maplewood at Southport Senior Living, where they conversed, played bingo, and provided tech support to elderly residents. NBC News New York featured the project on a recent broadcast.

Visiting Maplewood Senior Living.

The Wreckers participated in the Hope Blooms team walk, to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer’s.

At the Hope Blooms walk. Head coach Matty Jacowleff is standing, 3rd from right.

At Operation Hope Fairfield, players donated food items, helped bag lunches for distribution, and unloaded donations at a local post office.

Helping at Operation Hope.

The Wreckers also traveled to the Nourish Bridgeport food pantry, where they unloaded and sorted food donations, and helped clients shop.

Players who had conflicts were encouraged to give back according to their own schedules.

Already in 2026, the student-athletes have worked with 8 organizations, and logged over 250 hours of total community service.

Those numbers are impressive. But the Wreckers also came together to help one of their own. Varsity quarterback coach Nick Chacho told the team that he was battling stage 3 colon cancer.

While maintaining their weekly community service schedule and working hard in the classroom, the team undertook several fundraising efforts.

With the help of ASF Westport, they designed and sold “Team Chacho” t-shirts.  The following week, over 40 players volunteered at a lemonade stand near Compo Beach.

The squad has already raised over $10,000 to help with medical costs for their coach, with minimal adult involvement and supervision.

Raising funds for their coach.

“Coach Matty” has set out to make his student-athletes model citizens, on and off the field. The Wreckers have responded not for recognition or adulation, but to help support the community that supports them each fall.

They are our unsung heroes.

(“06880” is proud to honor Unsung Heroes — and tell many other tales of town too. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog.)