While many people spent the weekend following Thanksgiving preparing for the holiday season, Brian Duryea and East Haven Youth Football's 6th-grade team had different plans. After winning regionals on Nov. 21, the team had nine days to fundraise for its trip to Florida to compete in Nationals.

"You don't know until the last game if you're going to Florida or not so we found out last Sunday by winning that we had the chance," says Brian, standing outside collecting donations on a frigid and windy day. "It's been tough, but the community has really come together."

Brian, an assistant coach with the team, is one of many parents involved in the fundraising. He is quick to thank the many individuals and businesses that have already donated to the team's cause and is grateful for the community support.

"People are really excited and it's nice to see the community helping these kids out," says Brian. "The team was announced at halftime of the high school's Thanksgiving football game and everyone went nuts for them. Everyone is working hand-in-hand."

In addition to collecting donations at the high school football game and outside of Stop&Shop and WalMart, the team also held a pasta dinner at the Foxon Community Center on Dec. 1, which was also aided by donations from businesses and community members and was expected to draw more than 300 people.

All of these efforts are helping send the team to Florida for Nationals, which will be held from Dec. 4 to Dec. 11. The tournament will host representatives from eight regions-Desert Pacific, Mountain Northwest, Midwest, Southwest, Southeast, Atlantic, Big East, and New England, which East Haven will represent.

The appearance at Nationals follows a 2009 season that ended in Regionals-a season that Brian, his fellow coaches, and the team wanted to build off of. It was also the first year that the program was grade-based.

"We made it to Regionals in their first year of playing together," says Brian. "We built off that and they started realizing they had a chance and they started focusing more. Once they learned they had a chance to go to Florida, they really learned to play football."

While Brian and the coaching staff teach their athletes about football, they also stress the importance of grades with Brian adding, "They can't be a part of this if they don't take care of their schoolwork." He also says his squad focuses on the achievements and statistics of the team as a whole versus as individuals.

Brian certainly has plenty of football experience to draw from. The 1988 East Haven High School graduate went on to play at Nassau Community College in Long Island before playing some arena and semipro football. He then went to a scout combine put on by the NFL and was selected as a special teams player with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1991 and 1992 seasons.

Unfortunately, a collarbone fracture cut that career short, but Brian was not done with his time on the gridiron. While in Kansas City, he got involved with coaching and after moving back to Connecticut, he went back to playing arena football and played for the Connecticut Cardinals, New Haven Ninjas, and Connecticut Chiefs-all semipro teams.

About 10 years ago, Brian felt he wanted to give back to the sport he has enjoyed so much over the years and began volunteering with East Haven Youth Football.

"I wanted to take what I knew and share it with the kids," says Brian. "When I grew up, I didn't have a father, but had a mentor who got me involved with sports so I knew being a mentor to these kids is very important."

Five years ago, Brian's oldest son was oldest enough to join the flag football program and since then, Brian has coached him through the ranks. He and his son are now sharing the experience of heading to Nationals.

"What a feeling-it's nice to see all the kids grow and becoming football players, especially when we are rewarded by playing for a national championship," says Brian. "We've had these kids since they were five and now they're preteens and seeing them growing into good citizens as well as athletes is rewarding."