In a trifecta of accomplishment, three teams from the Mattapan Patriots Youth Football & Cheer program have advanced to the American Youth Football (AYF) and Cheer Nationals next month. The question for program President Mike Brunache, who coaches the 14-under football team, is how will he get all 65 participants to Florida?

“Right now, we have a GoFundMe page,” he said, “and we’re trying to raise $60,000. I’m not going to leave any child behind. I want to make sure every child gets down no matter what and that’s why I’m fighting hard fundraising and making sure that they get that opportunity.”

His team isn’t the only one that qualified to head south. The 12U and 16U cheer teams won the right to go, too.

“This is the first time in Mattapan history that our cheer has advanced to AYC Nationals,” Brunache told The Reporter. “Just last year we only had about ten cheerleaders and now the program has grown to over 60 cheerleaders with 30 girls advancing to nationals, so this is monumental for these girls as well.”

The two teams will compete at the AYC National Championships in Kissimmee, FL, from Tues., Dec. 3 to Sun., Dec. 8. As the cheerleaders begin to wrap up their time on the mat, the football players will take the field in Naples from Dec. 7 to Dec. 15. 

“Going to nationals is so important to me because of the adversity and the disappointment these kids went through this season,” Brunache said. “The season has been extremely different and not normal because we’re promised a seven to eight-game schedule for the regular season and we weren’t given that.” 

Instead, several teams canceled their games against the Patriots, oftentimes, without reason.

Said Brunache: “As the president and head coach, to keep going back to my kids and saying these programs don’t want to play you, it was very disappointing and kind of sad and hard for these kids to understand. At the end of the day these are kids, yeah, they’re 14, but they just want to play football like everyone else.” 

Added defensive coach Charles James Rosco: “I didn’t like the fact that people didn’t give us explanations. There were games that were forfeited when we were supposed to be home and we would tell teams, ‘Hey, we’ll come to you’ and they would say ‘Oh no you don’t have to come.’”
The players, too, were frustrated by the forfeits.

“It’s disappointing because we do put in a lot of effort every season. When teams don’t want to play us, it’s not a waste of time but it’s like what’s the point?” said Jayce, who has played for the Patriots since he was six years old. 

In Florida, things will be different. Jayce, now 14, and his teammates will finally have the chance to prove that their hard work pays off. Last year the team made it to nationals but fell short; this year they want to win it all.

“I hope the teams we do play, we put our best foot forward and win each game and then bring home some rings,” Jayce told The Reporter. 

Brunache described Jayce as a quiet but dedicated player. While his voice may not be the loudest, he stirs up noise on the turf, where he often plays receiver, corner, linebacker, and some safety. 

Though Jayce leads by example, teammate Tracey, the only girl on the team, captains the squad and leads with both her words and actions. 
“Tracey is our fearless leader,” said Brunache. “She is the most caring individual on the team. Everybody treats her like one of the bros and I’m super proud of her.” 

He added, “She’s such an inspiration, not only for the boys but also for all the girls that play football.”

Tracey started football seven years ago and has not just kept up with the boys but has dominated. Sometimes opponents don’t even notice they’re lining up against a girl. 

“My helmet usually hides it, sometimes they don’t even realize,” said Tracey. “It’s funny because if I’m beating someone really badly, my friends will yell ‘You’re being beaten by a girl.’” While that could sound like an insult, Tracey sees herself as just another player. “It’s okay that I’m better than you,” joked the 14-year-old. 

Some of Tracey’s confidence can be credited to her coach. The high school freshman said that she could tell Coach Mick about anything, even boys.

“I’m just preparing him for when he has a daughter,” said Tracey with a laugh .

She added that Brunache “can be a little crazy but that’s always a good thing because I know he is very much into this team. He cares about us a lot and he always says he would go through a brick wall for us and I know that’s true.”

Brunache doesn’t just want to see his players excel on the field but in all aspects of life. “It’s bigger than wins and losses, it’s really about trying to raise future young men and women,” he said.  “It’s also just kind of giving a lot of these kids that family and camaraderie that some of them lack at home. It’s more than football.” 

For some of his players, including both Jayce and Tracey, this season will be the end of their youth football careers. While Jayce will continue to play football in high school, Tracey may be saying a final goodbye to the game. Next year she plans on focusing on her track and field career, another sport she has proven to be a star in.

“I do shotput. I hold the state record for middle school girls. I broke it when I was in 7th grade and broke it again in 8th grade and it’s still not my PR,” she said. “My goal is to try and be in the Olympics by the time I graduate when I’m 18.”

In the meantime, Brunache and Rosco hope they can help Tracey and her teammates bring another dream to life: winning the nationals.

“Most of these kids, this will be their last season playing youth football, so I really want to make it special to them because they didn’t have a fair season,” Brunache told The Reporter. “I want them to have the fairy tale ending.”

Rosco added, “It would be sweet to come back home with a national title but what’s better than that is knowing where helping our kids get into schools, our kids are on a stronger path, our kids are staying out of trouble. I think we’re making a difference here in Mattapan so I’m proud to say that even if we don’t get a national title … but we will.”

To help get the Patriots to nationals donate at gofundme.com/f/send-the-mattapan-patriots-to-nationals.