Scotland native Joe Pierce was an early FCIAC soccer star at Stamford’s Rippowam High School. He is a long-time area resident, a former Staples High School assistant coach, and producer of a film about legendary English star Sir Stanley Matthews.
He’s led quite a life, and has the stories to prove it. But this may be his best ever. With the first match of the 2026 World Cup just 5 days away, Joe writes:
In December 1991, while preparations were underway for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the US, New York hosted the preliminary qualifying draw at Madison Square Garden.
That event set the stage for one of the most unlikely small-town soccer stories Weston, Connecticut, can ever claim.
At the time I was part of the 1994 New York Bid Committee. I also helped host the qualifying draw in New York. FIFA brought the World Cup trophy to the city for that event.
Then came an unexpected request. Rather than leave the trophy in a hotel, FIFA asked me to look after it for a couple of days.
So, for a brief stretch, the most famous prize in world sport made its way from Manhattan to my home in Weston.
The World Cup trophy is no ordinary object. The current one — introduced in 1974 — stands 1 foot 2 inches tall, weighs 13.6 pounds, and is made of 18-carat gold with malachite bands on its base.
FIFA keeps the original trophy under its control. Winners receive a replica.
That is what makes the memory so striking. Today, the trophy is handled under tight security, and is surrounded by layers of ceremony.
In 1991 though, there was still enough trust and informality for it to spend a couple of quiet days in suburban Connecticut.
Joe Pierce in Weston, with the World Cup trophy.
I decided to share the moment in the best possible way. I invited my 8-year-old son’s Weston youth soccer team over for a photograph with the real World Cup trophy.
Somewhere, those pictures still exist.
The children in them are adults now, scattered all around the world and living their own lives.
But each photograph preserves a story that would be almost impossible today: a group of local kids in Weston, Connecticut, standing with the real FIFA World Cup trophy.
Then and now, they are able to say that for one unforgettable moment, the World Cup came to their town.
(“06880” is where Westport meets the world — and Weston meets the World Cup. If you enjoy this story — or anything else on our hyper-local blog — please click here to support our work. Thanks!)
Posted onDecember 3, 2022|Comments Off on Roundup: Holiday Stroll Is On Tonight; World Cup Is On Today, 10 am @ The Library ….
Important note: Today’s Holiday Stroll is on — rain or shine!
Over 40 stores and restaurants — plus Santa, face painters, a balloon artist, Staples and Greens Farms Academy singers and other carolers — look forward to seeing you this evening, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Main Street, Church Lane, the Post Road and across the river. The main tent will be outside Cold Fusion.
Dress warmly. Wear reindeer — I mean, rain gear — if needed. Ho ho ho! See you there.
And for more information — including all the participating stores and restaurants — click here.
If you can’t be in Qatar this morning (10 a.m. kickoff, our time) cheering the American team on in its World Cup round of 16 match against the Netherlands, go to the next best place.
The Westport Library.
Today’s broadcast begins a series of matches, live on the 18-foot screen. The Trefz Forum will also host the quarterfinals next Friday (December 9), 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.), and the semifinals on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 13 and 14 (2 p.m.).
The games will be very exciting. The players will be larger than life. But — hey, this is still a library — fans should bring a mobile device to download the Sennheiser app, and headphones or earbuds to listen.
Christian Pulisic’s pulsating goal powered the US past Iran on Tuesday. The win vaulted the Americans into the knockout round. (Photo/Odd Andersen for AFP)
Also at the Westport Library: the final evening of the Short Cuts Film Festival.
Five narrative films will be screened on Thursday (December 8, 7 p.m.).
“Pragma” is a British rom-com. “Hallelujah” is a reminder that “trouble won’t last always.” “Lilith & Eve” is a feminist reimagining of Lilith, Adam’s first wife. “Life Remembered” is a hybrid live-action and virtual reality short depiction of a cowboy who leads a double life.”F^cK ‘Em R!GHT B@cK” follows a queer aspiring rapper who accidentally eats an edible. A talk back follows the final film.
Click here for more information on the films, and to purchase tickets ($25, including refreshments).
One of Westport’s favorite toy drives begins today.
The Westport Police Department and Police Athletic League will again collect gifts for underprivileged children in Fairfield County.
Officers will accept new, unopened and unwrapped toys — plus cash donations — in the ASF Sports & Outdoors parking lot (1560 Post Road East), this weekend and next, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The Westport Garden Club has made its annual deliveries of wreaths to non-profit and service organizations around town.
Each year the club organizes a workshop for members. They bring cuttings and natural embellishments from their gardens, making special bows for unique designs.
Among the recipients: Homes with Hope, the Gillespie Center, Wakeman Town Farm, the Westport Museum for History & Culture, the Senior Center, Westport Parks & Recreation Department, the Aspetuck Health District, and Earthplace.
Westport Garden Club wreaths are on sale today at the Westport Museum’s Holly Days Market.
Westport Garden Club members, ready to deliver their holiday wreaths.
Our Local Town Crier has just published its annual Holiday Gift Guide. There are plenty of good ideas and links, plus a comprehensive list of December events. Click here to see.
After 3 riveting performances of “The Laramie Project” last month, the Unitarian Church’s UU Players offer an encore.
They’ll repeat the powerful drama about the Wyoming community’s reaction to the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard next Saturday (December 10, 7 p.m., Unitarian Church of Westport). There’s a talkback with the director and cast right after the show.
It’s a benefit for Triangle Community Center, Fairfield County’s center for LGBTQ programming and resources.
Click here for tickets ($20 suggested donation; pay what you can) and livestream information.
“Laramie Project” talkback, at the Unitarian Church. (Hat tip and photo/Jill Johnson Mann)
Sandy Rothenberg notes that the Bayberry Lane bridge — which up until recently announced a completion date of November 30, 2022 — now has nothing listed.
The Westport Pod of B.I.G. Connecticut — a global women’s empowerment community — hosts a holiday cocktail networking event at the Westport Woman’s Club (December 15, 5:30 p.m.). Local women-owned businesses will be featured.
The public is invited. Tickets are $30, and include wine and appetizers. For more information, email bigconnecticutregion@gmail.com.
The Westport Astronomical Society’s free online science lecture series welcomes Dr. Brett Denevi, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and deputy principal investigator for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.
She’ll talk about “the moon up close and personal,” including unprecedented mapping of its surface.
The virtual event is December 20 (8 p.m.). Click here for the livestream.
Last week, “06880” reported on the hard luck suffered by the cast of Staples Players’ “Guys and Dolls.” Henry Carson (Nathan Detroit) fell ill just before the show opened. Freshman Will McCrae stepped spectacularly into the breach.
The next day, understudies Graham Griffin (also a 9th grader) and junior Finley Chevrier took the stage, in other roles.
In the week between opening and closing, nearly 2 dozen of the cast and tech crew got sick. By the final performance, all but one had recovered. The show went on — fabulously.
But without its regular pit orchestra conductor.
Staples music teacher Carrie Mascaro is in the hospital with pneumonia. Her colleague Luke Rosenberg — the school’s choral director — stepped up big time. He learned the score, then led 14 musicians in a flawless performance.
The show must go on. And it did.
But it’s a good bet (ho ho) that directors David Roth and Kerry Long will tell the improbable “Guys & Dolls” story to future Players for many years to come.
Conductor Luke Rosenberg in the pit last night. (Photo/Dan Woog)
If you can’t be in Qatar for the opening match — the hosts vs. Ecuador, 11 a.m. EST — you can do the next best thing.
Head to Vanish Media System‘s showroom, in the strip mall near Fortuna’s and Greens Farms Spirit Shop.
Mark Motyl’s company builds state-of-the-art home theaters that disappear into customized credenzas or benches.
He’s got several in the showroom. With Dolby Atmos Surround Sound and a 4k projector, it’s just like being in the stadium. Except at Vanish Media, you’re much closer to the action.
Like Qatar, Mark does not sell beer. But he provides snacks, and is plenty of fun to watch a game with.
There’s an open invitation for today’s 11 a.m. match. If you’d like to arrange a private viewing party for an upcoming game of interest, call or text Mark: 203-246-2011.
In February, Julia Marino’s family and friends gathered in the Vanish Media showroom to watch her silver-winning snowboard performance at the Beijing Olympics. Today, the action switches to soccer’s World Cup in Qatar.
Over 80 Westport-Weston Y’s Men visited Bridgeport Boatworks Friday morning.
The highly specialized business provides a wide range of maintenance and storage services for boat clients around the world, including New York ferries and super yachts. Its 2 lifts can haul up to 200 tons.
Y’s Men at Bridgeport Boatworks. (Hat tip and photo/Dave Matlow)
Longtime Westport resident Mary Kinser died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, at home. She was 92. Her family calls her “a tiny package with a huge impact.”
Born in Kentucky and raised in West Virginia, she attended business school and worked as a bookkeeper. She married Bill at 20, and a year later their daughter Mary Jo was born.
The family traveled all across the US and Europe. In 1966 they moved to Toledo, then 14 years later to Geneva, Switzerland for Bill’s work. Mary loved to ski and hike in the Alps.
After her husband died in 1982 she moved to Westport, where her daughter lived. She knew no one here, but began working as a receptionist at the Westport YMCA, a real estate assistant and a babysitter.
She loved Compo Beach: walking, combing for shells and enjoying sunsets. She also found joy and excitement in New York City’s arts and culture scene.
Mary served the United Methodist Church of Westport and Weston for over 40 years. She taught Sunday school, prepared communion, babysat in the nursery and visited sick parishioners.
She also volunteered at the Gillespie Center and food bank, delivered meals to shut-ins, and raised money for the less fortunate.
Mary was preceded by her sisters Mabel Rumbaugh and Mearilyn Auvil. She is survived by her daughter Mary Jo (Greg Hawkins) Kinser; brother John Hackworth, and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and step-granfchildren.
Funeral services will be held in West Virginia on Saturday (November 26, noon). Click here for the livestream, or to view later. A memorial service is set for March 11 at United Methodist Church of Westport.
Last week, “06880” reported on the hard luck suffered by the cast of Staples Players’ “Guys and Dolls.” Henry Carson (Nathan Detroit) fell ill just before the show opened. Freshman Will McCrae stepped spectacularly into the breach.
The next day, understudies Graham Griffin (also a 9th grader) and junior Finley Chevrier took the stage, in other roles.
In the week between opening and closing, nearly 2 dozen of the cast and tech crew got sick. By the final performance, all but one had recovered. The show went on — fabulously.
But without its regular pit orchestra conductor.
Staples music teacher Carrie Mascaro is in the hospital with pneumonia. Her colleague Luke Rosenberg — the school’s choral director — stepped up big time. He learned the score, then led 14 musicians in a flawless performance.
The show must go on. And it did.
But it’s a good bet (ho ho) that directors David Roth and Kerry Long will tell the improbable “Guys & Dolls” story to future Players for many years to come.
Conductor Luke Rosenberg in the pit last night. (Photo/Dan Woog)
If you can’t be in Qatar for the opening match — the hosts vs. Ecuador, 11 a.m. EST — you can do the next best thing.
Head to Vanish Media System‘s showroom, in the strip mall near Fortuna’s and Greens Farms Spirit Shop.
Mark Motyl’s company builds state-of-the-art home theaters that disappear into customized credenzas or benches.
He’s got several in the showroom. With Dolby Atmos Surround Sound and a 4k projector, it’s just like being in the stadium. Except at Vanish Media, you’re much closer to the action.
Like Qatar, Mark does not sell beer. But he provides snacks, and is plenty of fun to watch a game with.
There’s an open invitation for today’s 11 a.m. match. If you’d like to arrange a private viewing party for an upcoming game of interest, call or text Mark: 203-246-2011.
In February, Julia Marino’s family and friends gathered in the Vanish Media showroom to watch her silver-winning snowboard performance at the Beijing Olympics. Today, the action switches to soccer’s World Cup in Qatar.
Over 80 Westport-Weston Y’s Men visited Bridgeport Boatworks Friday morning.
The highly specialized business provides a wide range of maintenance and storage services for boat clients around the world, including New York ferries and super yachts. Its 2 lifts can haul up to 200 tons.
Y’s Men at Bridgeport Boatworks. (Hat tip and photo/Dave Matlow)
Longtime Westport resident Mary Kinser died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, at home. She was 92. Her family calls her “a tiny package with a huge impact.”
Born in Kentucky and raised in West Virginia, she attended business school and worked as a bookkeeper. She married Bill at 20, and a year later their daughter Mary Jo was born.
The family traveled all across the US and Europe. In 1966 they moved to Toledo, then 14 years later to Geneva, Switzerland for Bill’s work. Mary loved to ski and hike in the Alps.
After her husband died in 1982 she moved to Westport, where her daughter lived. She knew no one here, but began working as a receptionist at the Westport YMCA, a real estate assistant and a babysitter.
She loved Compo Beach: walking, combing for shells and enjoying sunsets. She also found joy and excitement in New York City’s arts and culture scene.
Mary served the United Methodist Church of Westport and Weston for over 40 years. She taught Sunday school, prepared communion, babysat in the nursery and visited sick parishioners.
She also volunteered at the Gillespie Center and food bank, delivered meals to shut-ins, and raised money for the less fortunate.
Mary was preceded by her sisters Mabel Rumbaugh and Mearilyn Auvil. She is survived by her daughter Mary Jo (Greg Hawkins) Kinser; brother John Hackworth, and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and step-granfchildren.
Funeral services will be held in West Virginia on Saturday (November 26, noon). Click here for the livestream, or to view later. A memorial service is set for March 11 at United Methodist Church of Westport.
The Staples boys soccer team played host to 250 younger players today, in a sun-filled, joyful warmup to the US-Portugal World Cup match.
There were mini-games, an obstacle course, a speed gun, penalty kick contests, food, a raffle, and plenty of smiles. It was hard to know who had more fun, the kids or the Staples guys.
The only drag was the final result. Portugal scored with 10 seconds to go in injury time, to tie 2-2. But perhaps one of the kids who chanted “USA! USA!” in the auditorium will be on the field for the USA in a World Cup 20 years from now — and will remember this as the day that started it all.
Taking it steady on one part of the obstacle course. (Photo/Kim Lake)
Denzel Robinson (left) and Sam Kantor help on another part of the obstacle course. Denzel said he loved watching the little kids smile. (Photo/Kim Lake)
Checking out a powerful kick, with the aid of a speed gun. (Photo/Kim Lake)
Best buds, playing the game they love — and lovin’ the US jerseys. (Photo/Kim Lake)
Staples captain Andrew Puchala shows future stars how it’s done. (Photo/Kim Lake)
Part of the crowd this afternoon. The Staples players sit proudly at top. (Photo/Kim Lake)
It doesn’t get better than eating pizza and wearing US face paint. (Photo/Doug Fincher)
Kyle Martino — the Westport soccer star who was National High School Player of the Year in 1998, earned MLS Rookie of the Year honors, and shared the Los Angeles Galaxy field with David Beckham — is going to the World Cup.
Kyle Martino
He won’t be playing for the US national team — though he’s done that in the past. For a month starting in mid-June, Martino will be a key part of ESPN and ABC’s radio crew. He’ll announce games with TV veterans J.P. Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth, and former New York Cosmos star Shep Messing.
Martino has earned praise for his ESPN television work, covering the US men’s team and MLS. However, for the World Cup, Disney — ESPN and ABC’s parent company — has signed a largely British TV crew.
That will be particularly interesting on June 12. It’s the Americans’ 1st game of the tournament — against England.
Don’t want to hear a Brit call the match? No problem.
Gather in front of a huge hi-def screen. Mute the sound.
And listen to Kyle Martino, live from South Africa.
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