This is the first in a series of articles, including a feature on cheerleading, covering Newtown Youth Football & Cheer as the organization celebrates the 50th anniversary of the youth program.

Baseball umpires at the local/youth level, in the eyes of fans and players alike, may seemingly be there to call balls and strikes or rule a baserunner safe or out.

Only the fastest runners can excel in a track or road race, but those with a knack for writing and sharing their story have a chance to keep up with an Olympian and international medalist.

It had been more than 50 years since a Connecticut soccer team won the United States Adult Soccer Association National Amateur Championship. Newtown Pride FC put the state back on the national map this past weekend, and the team is looking forward to more big things after defeating Houston-based Horizon FC 4-0 in the pinnacle game in River Grove, Ill., on August 3.

The old saying “like father, like son” has a new twist in the Thoesen household. Or, to be more accurate, on the baseball diamonds.

The hot summer days are anything but a reminder of football season, except over at Blue & Gold Stadium, where each weekday morning for several weeks leading into preseason practices, members of the Newtown High School football team have been hard at work getting ready for game action.

Among the baseball players from Newtown who had success at the collegiate level this past season were former Newtown High School and Bethel Admirals American Legion players Charlie Huegi and Dylan Champagne, whose teams met in the Super Regional Championship game, along with Sam Czel, a hitter who led his Keene State squad in a pair of offensive categories.

Baseball fanatics Jonathon Paes and Travis Huzina of Newtown are applying their knowledge of and passion for the sport and pursuing career aspirations while helping out with the Danbury Westerners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) this summer.

It may be the offseason, but former Newtown High School baseball player Jake Oliger (class of 2016) is hard at work hitting and working out as he prepares for his senior year on the collegiate baseball diamonds.