The Italian and Spanish Honor Society Soccer Tournament

On February 28, 2020, the Italian and Spanish National Honor Society held a 5 vs. 5 soccer tournament after school in the small gym of Nutley High School.  It was run by Mr. Gaetano Sollazzo, who is an Italian teacher and head of the Italian National Honor Society. The event was created to raise money for the Italian and Spanish Honor Societies. 

The tournament was an idea brought about last year, however, the tournament was unable to take place at that time.  It took place this year instead, thanks to the hard work the advisors have been putting in since the beginning of the year, it was able to take place and was able to run smoothly.  Mr. Sollazzo states, “This year we focused on running the event from the start of the school year and we accomplished our goal. We wanted to run a fun, student-centered event where we could also raise some money for the Italian Honor Society.” 

A lot of hard work took place over the span of three months to make sure all logistics were matched up perfectly and then the tournament was able to take place. The only requirements for the students were to fill out a form with the team members’ names, a team name, and a $10 payment per team.  

The set up in the gym was easy to follow; a bracket was made ahead of time so the teams could play right away and have an organized schedule.  A student who took place in the tournament, Christina Sako, states, “Everything was pretty easy and understandable and the schedule was set out well.” 

Everyone involved in the tournament had a fun time and money was raised for the societies.  Seven teams, plus a teacher team, joined and played, which created a fun and enjoyable environment in the gym.  Even though the monetary goal was not exactly reached, the event was a good learning experience for what can be done differently next time.  The goal was $100 but only $70 was raised. “Even though we came up a bit short I think it was a good event which can be leveraged going forward in order to raise even more funds,” Mr. Sollazzo states.  

Overall the event was a huge success and helped raise money for the Italian and Spanish Honor societies.  The participation from students and teachers made the event fun and enjoyable for everyone involved. Even though the money goal was not reached it was still a great event for students and teachers to get involved and help raise money while having a good time.