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SOUND TIGERS AT THE NUTMEG STATE GAMES

Jul 28, 2008 | By Melissa Marchionna

For all 80 of the Sound Tigers’ regular season games, the team goes to battle in their orange and blue colors. For the community relations crew on Saturday, those prominent colors were present again as they attended the Opening Ceremonies and Fan Festival at this year’s Nutmeg State Games, held at the Danbury High School Hatters’ home field which also dons the colors, orange and blue.

It wasn’t just a shared color scheme that made this event perfect for the Sound Tigers van and slap shot machine. The Nutmeg State Games, a 24-sport Olympic style event for Connecticut’s premiere amateur athletes, draws sports minded individuals from all corners of the state.

The variety of sports represented was apparent as athletes of all types stepped up to test their power and accuracy on the slap shot machine.

“Do it like you do in baseball” directed one father, prompting his little league son to affix his hands in a tight grip on the butt-end of the stick. “Come on honey! Chip it! Chip it!” cheered an enthusiastic mom, drawing on golf lingo to encourage her son to beat the inflated goalie. “It’s like a push pass,” exclaimed a teen representing Bethel Field Hockey, as she tried to teach her teammate proper slap shot technique using field hockey terms, and was unfortunately met with little success.

“It’s a little awkward. The end of the stick is longer than I’m used to,” said a frustrated Caroline Steinmetz, 17, from Bethel, when the push pass directive did not work as planned.

Slap_Shot Steinmetz, alongside her teammates Maggie Bozzuti, 16, and Jen Chapman, 17, were at the festival preparing to compete in their first Nutmeg State games for field hockey. Each of the girls donned matching t-shirts, reading read “Silly boys, hockey is for girls.”

Despite having a little trouble with the Sound Tigers slap shot game, each of the competitors remained focused and excited about the challenge presented by the Games ahead.

“I think it will be lots of fun to play in something organized like this. It’s a big game for us,” Bozzuti revealed.

Still, the girls kept their goals realistic, “Our hope is to just improve with each game,” said Steinmetz.

It is that sort of attitude that Pat Fisher, associate director of the Nutmeg State Games, tries to promote. After all, one of the stated missions of the Games is to “motivate personal development in physical fitness and health through attainable goals.”

The Nutmeg State Games have been important to the development of several of Connecticut’s finest athletic exports. Past participants in the event include former UConn star Jennifer Rizzotti, former Patriot safety Tebucky Jones, WNBA player Maria Conlon, and four time NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medallist Vin Baker.

Given 2008’s status as an Olympics year and with a former Olympian in the list of accomplished alumni, the Connecticut’s Games have garnered even more support this year.

“Being an Olympic Year, we’ve tried to market around that and draw on the exposure of the Beijing Olympics to promote the Connecticut version of the Olympic games,” said Fisher.

Since it is such a special year for the Games, Fisher expressed his appreciation to the Sound Tigers for adding an extra element to the Game’s opening day.

“We could not run this event, particularly this fan festival, without the support of our vendors. Working with teams like the Sound Tigers we are able to get the word out about athletics in Connecticut.”

With such a reputation of producing quality athletes, it’s only a matter of time before a Nutmeg State Games alum is lacing up their skates for the Sound Tigers.