The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Turro to play soccer at Central Conn.
Jeff Turro, a centermidfielder and two-time captain at Middletown High, will continue his soccer career at Central Connecticut State University in the fall.
Turro, a three-year starter for the Blue Dragons, also is a long-time club player and expects this experience to help him eventually win playing time at the college level.
“Going in as a freshman, I know I have to work very hard in the preseason, since I’ll be going up against sophomores, juniors and seniors,” he said. “I know I’m going to have to fight for a spot every single year.”
In his three seasons on Middletown’s varsity, the Blue Dragons program struggled, winning a total of six games. This did not deter him from fulfilling his responsibilities as a captain and a leader of his teammates.
“Jeff Turro was one of the hardest-working players on our team,” Middletown assistant coach Matt Harris said. “When things didn’t go right, he pressed on and gave his best effort regardless of the results. He’s definitely a collegetype player with that kind of mindset.
“He has a great heart and a hard worker’s mentality. He brought other players up with him and made them better. We did not have a lot of wins. In high school, (as a player) I remember you thrive off the wins. They keep you going and keep you motivated.
“Jeff’s leadership a lot of times came without words. The way he worked, the way he took soccer seriously, his skills and things he did in practice, they carried over to other players. His leadership and work ethic were definitely evident.”
Turro’s experience at the club level started long before Middletown High, at Oakwood in Glastonbury and FSA in Farmington. Most recently, he played for the Connecticut Football Club out of Waterbury, partly to be noticed by college programs. It was with CFC that he struck up a relationship with Central Connecticut’s staff, he said.
“Playing with CFC helped to gain the exposure I needed to play in college, and it all worked out,” Turro said.
Harris said it’s rare today for student-athletes to play just four years of high school soccer and expect to play at the next level, considering the internal competition they will face at the college level. For example, Central’s 2017 roster included underclassmen players from Greece, France, Sweden, Italy and Puerto Rico.
“Kids used to say, ‘Oh, let me go and play at the state (universities). Then you look at Central’s roster and you think, ‘Whoa, they have more international players than not.’ “
“Jeff’s club experience outside of Middletown High really created the type of player and individual he is,” he said. “At the club level, when you play against bigger, stronger, faster guys, you have to
sustain that. That experience really helped him out in getting to that next level.
NAMING OF PRESS BOX FOR BRANSFIELD
Middletown’s American Legion Post 75 will hold Fan Appreciation Day on Sunday, July 15. Madison will be at Palmer Field for a doubleheader with the 75ers that starts at 10 a.m.
The significance of this year’s fan appreciation will be the dedication of the press box in memory of Jim Bransfield, the longtime PA announcer for Post 75 games and The Voice for Middletown sports. Bransfield, who died in February at age 72, also covered the local sports scene for the Press for decades.
The naming of the press box could be a rededication, if you will. Initially, it was named in memory of Bransfield’s son, Dana, who was 14 when he died in 1990. Either way, it will be a special day at Palmer Field.
WHAT’S IN STORE FOR XAVIER’S FOSDICK?
Chris Fosdick probably has the brightest future of any Greater Middletown athlete. Could we see him playing on a Tour one day? It will be a lot of fun to follow his game.
The Xavier rising senior won the first CIAC Open golf tournament, making seven birdies in a round of 4-under 67 at the Black Hall Golf Club in Old Lyme.
“Tee to green he was a machine,” Xavier coach Mike Kohs told the Greenwich Time.
Fosdick already has committed to play college golf at Division II power Florida Southern.
Tyler Woodward of Coginchaug shot 77 to finish in a tie for fifth.
GIFT OF BELICHICK
Bill Belichick is one of Wesleyan University’s greatest contributions to any field of work There is no debating Belichick’s ability and what he has accomplished as coach of the Patriots all these years.
Beyond the football and the titles, I’ve grown to appreciate how deftly Belichick plays the media. When he opens up about how he sees the game and practices his craft, his brilliance shines through and he is fascinating to listen to. More often than not, though, he is terse and prickly, and at times his style is actually funny. Last week, before the heavy news of Julian Edelman’s reported PED suspension broke, Belichick faced this line of questioning about New England’s voluntary offseason workouts (OTAs) in May.
Q: Did the absence of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski slow down your progress at all? How did that affect what you’ve been trying to do?
BB: The OTA system is voluntary.
Q: Did it affect the progress of what you’re trying to do at all? Did it have
any effect at all?
BB: It’s a voluntary program.
Q: That’s not what I asked.
BB: Well, that’s the answer.
There was no humor in this exchange whatsoever. Priceless.
THIS AND THAT
⏩ Middletown’s 21st Century Parks Commission will hold its monthly meeting on June 21 at City Hall. The expectation is that the commission will decide then on a date for the formal dedication of the fields at the new Woodrow Wilson/Pat Kidney complex.
Last year, the Common Council approved the naming of each area of the complex as such: football for Ed Collins, former Woodrow Wilson High school coach; baseball for Jerome “Buzzy” Levin, who helped found the city’s Little League chapter; softball for Lucille Gecewicz, the first woman to enter the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame; basketball for Detroit Hunter and Cleve Lowman, giants of the city’s recreation scene; track for Deb Petruzzello, who recently retired after coaching the sports for 40 years; and tennis for Hal Kaplan, a tennis enthusiast who was a longtime teacher and principal at city schools.
⏩ Six CIAC baseball tournament games played out
at Palmer Field — two semifinals Wednesday and the championships in classes LL, L, M and S over the course of Friday and Saturday. The estimated total attendance was pegged at 7,000 — 2,000 alone for the WethersfieldWindsor final in Class L.
⏩ Check out jeffgluck.com for the national motorsports writer’s recent and fun interview with Joey Logano. The Middletown/ Portland product remains the most down-to-earth driver on the Monster Energy Cup circuit. He’s goofy, too, and he totally knows it. There are many offbeat topics covered in the interview, and you may find Logano’s take on Danica Patrick’s racing legacy interesting.
⏩ A National League friend of mine got a good laugh at Masahiro Tanaka’s injury. The Yankees pitcher hurt both hamstrings scoring on a hit in an interleague game against the Mets and had to go on the disabled list. As a fan of the Yankees, it’s embarrassing. As a baseball fan, it’s another case for having the DH in both leagues, though the NL fan will say pitchers know how to hit and can run without getting hurt in our league. I just know that any time an AL pitcher has to hit or run in an NL park, it’s hard to watch. Tanaka took it to another level.