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Members of the Staples football team took part in the Murph Challenge to help raise money for Catch A Lift Fund. The challenge includes running a mile, performing 100 pullups, 200 pushups, and 300 squats before running another mile.

Members of the Staples football team took part in the Murph Challenge to help raise money for Catch A Lift Fund. The challenge includes running a mile, performing 100 pullups, 200 pushups, and 300 squats before running another mile.

Army veteran Quincy Lopez speaks to the Staples football team prior to the start of the Murph Challenge.

Staples offensive coordinator and Murph Challenge organizer Matty Jacowleff looks on during the Murph Challenge Thursday during the first day of OTAs for high school football in Connecticut.

Staples head coach Adam Behrends looks on during the Murph Challenge Thursday during the first day of OTAs for high school football in Connecticut.

On the first official day of the high school football season, when teams are permitted to have organized team activities (OTAs), many teams use the time to figure out paperwork, uniforms, and other housekeeping before hitting the field.

The Staples football team kicked off the start to their 2022 season by bettering themselves on and off the football field.

The group participated in the Murph Challenge, which honors the memory of Lt. Michael Murphy, a member of the United States Navy who was killed in action in 2005. The challenge includes running a mile, performing 100 pullups, 200 pushups, and 300 squats before running another mile.

Along with completing the event, the team raised money for the Catch A Lift Fund, a charity that helps thousands of post 9/11 combat-injured veterans regain their mental and physical health through gym memberships, in home gym equipment, personalized fitness and nutrition programs and a peer support network.

Staples head coach Adam Behrends, who was in charge of keeping a tally of the total number of pullups each participant recorded, said an event such as the Murph Challenge helps teach accountability within his program.

“I’m seeing a lot of the kids not count the pullups in which they didn’t get their head above the bar. It’s easy for them to say it was close enough,” Behrends said. “From the culture that we have created and the togetherness, you can see the kids hold themselves accountable and not cheat the guy next to him.”

Prior to the challenge, the team heard from members of the fund as well as Quincy Lopez, who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his nine years as a part of the United States Army. As an amputee, Lopez competed in the Paralympic Games as a bobsledder and won a gold medal in the event.

Lopez first heard of the team’s event when he received a call from Behrends. He hopped on a plane at 5 in the morning from Florida to be in attendance for the event before flying back the following morning.

“It was especially important for me to give back and show them who I am and what I’ve done,” Lopez said. “For me, I see nothing but lights from the kids, especially in an event like this. I see hope. This is what I served for.”

This is the third year Staples is a part of the annual challenge. Wreckers’ offensive coordinator and organizer of the event, Matty Jacowleff, said the challenge began when everyone was quarantined during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At the time of the pandemic, there were a lot of challenges going around. It was something that we felt was important to help push our players physically, but also connect them mentally. That first year, we used the Murph Challenge to do something together as a team while raising money. Last year, it progressed more into an event at the stadium as COVID restrictions loosened up.”

Each year the event rolls around, the team sets out a fundraising mark, with different ways to raise money. Whether it came through lemonade stands, or something as simple as someone shaving their head, the team looks to reach its goal of $40,000.

Senior Tyler Clark is committed to play lacrosse at Army next year with a career in the military to follow. The wisdom that Lopez shared prior to the event and the participation in it serves as a reminder of what’s to come once his high school career concludes.

“I think a lot of this is giving me an experience of lessons of how I should be practicing for life in the army,” Clark said. “It makes me proud to know that I am going to be a part of that group of people.”

Staples will build off Thursday’s event through the rest of its preseason prior to its season-opener at home against Conard on Sept. 9.