Selling lemonade is one way of making money and for Newtown’s Charlie Rancourt, supporting his AAU Basketball team, the business took off.

Last year, Rancourt, now 16, set up shop at Fairfield Hills with one goal in mind: earning enough to pay for his team’s basketball tournaments. This allows the players to stay active over the summer offseason.

He organized a team with his friends last summer, recruiting players from all over the state for his team Connecticut Sigmas (CTS). Throughout the season, CTS continued building, eventually becoming a contending team and winning two Vertical Hoops 2024 championships. CTS played in Springfield, Mass. at the Hall of Fame National Invitational in mid July.

Collecting money played a role in getting everyone on board. Each tournament costs around $400 and the problem arose when some teammates could not contribute. Keep in mind these were 15-year-olds.

Rancourt tried different ways to raise money, from starting a GoFundMe to discussing with local businesses about possible sponsorships, but neither succeeded. Instead of giving up, the teen took things to the next level.

Alongside his teammates, the high school freshman at the time created a lemonade stand, which resulted in instant production. The group supplied citizens and police with drinks nearly every day during the summer, generally from noon to 5 pm, sometimes starting as early as 10 am. Rancourt does not profit a dime and saves it for tournaments.

“It would take about a week to cover a tournament and last year we were able to get to three tournaments, while doing this,” Rancourt said.

Additionally, the high-schooler hired a videographer for $25 dollars and created the team’s jerseys. With everything added up, it is a lot of money and doing it alone is not an easy task.

The team members sell lemonade around town but the high school sophomore pays for tournaments mostly out of pocket.

“Nothing will stop him. He did the various ways to make money which I would have never even thought of. When he’s able to raise money on his own it’s amazing,” said his mom, Lindsey Rancourt.

“I’m just so proud of him for building this team and he has social media about it and kids are asking him now to be a part of this team,” she added.

For those interested in supporting or joining the team, follow them on Instagram: teamcts, and TikTok: team_cts_. To help raise money for tournaments, supporters can donate to the team’s GoFundMe page.

Tyler Pruneau is a journalism student at the University of Connecticut interning with The Newtown Bee this summer. He can be reached at intern@thebee.com.