Stumptown Players Plant Trees to Signify Memorable 2021 Moments

CHARLOTTE, NC – Players from the Stumptown AC soccer team met with members of local supporter’s club Queen City Royales this afternoon to memorialize significant moments from the NISA Spring 2021 season by planting trees alongside non-profit partner TreesCharlotte.

TreesCharlotte is a nonprofit collaborative to grow, diversify and steward the Queen City’s iconic urban forest. Trained volunteers and science-based programs teach residents about the value of trees and how to plant and care for them. Since the organization’s founding in 2012, it has helped plant or donate over 35,000 trees with the help of over 18,000 volunteers.

As the official non-profit partner of Stumptown AC, the team gathers a few times per year to mark celebrations of special club moments by planting trees to set roots in our community. Today’s event helps forever engrain nine such moments from this year’s spring return to action after losing time to the CoVID-19 pandemic last year.

Second-year midfielder Jake Lovinger was one of the players trading his cleats for a shovel and gloves today alongside teammates. When asked about the decision to volunteer, Lovinger explained it was “a great experience helping plant 9 trees for Trees Charlotte in the community we represent. We were able to contribute to a great cause and learn more about the importance of properly planting and caring for trees. I’m very happy to be a part of a club with a mission of bringing awareness to protecting our environment.”

The trees planted signified the following memorable moments from the NISA Spring 2021 season:

-Club’s first-ever goal by Rhys Williams vs. Cal United Strikers
-Club’s first shutout victory (Kevin Gonzalez)
-Club’s first game-winning goal by Bay Kurtz vs. New Amsterdam FC
-Goals scored by Travis Ward and Alex McGrath on May 8th
-Goal scored by Alex McGrath on May 14th
-Goal scored by Gio Godoy on June 15th
-Goal scored by Luis Garcia-Sosa on June 19th
-Goals scored by Alex McGrath, Luis Garcia-Sosa and Travis Ware on June 22nd
-Completed first NISA season in 2021