{"id":11445,"date":"2010-03-22T07:00:10","date_gmt":"2010-03-22T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=11445"},"modified":"2011-05-31T12:36:38","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T16:36:38","slug":"lifetime-of-giving-supports-passion-for-soccer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2010\/03\/lifetime-of-giving-supports-passion-for-soccer\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifetime of Giving Supports Passion for Soccer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>Jon<\/a>
Jonathan and Elizabeth Hutchinson. Photo by Hal Reed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jonathan \u2018Hutch,\u2019 \u201943 \u201965, and Elizabeth Hutchinson have made a difference with every gift they\u2019ve donated over the past 60 years. Through a lifetime of philanthropy, the Hutchinsons have cumulatively given $100,000 in support of UConn soccer.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly we were pleased to hear that our donations had grown to $100,000,\u201d says Hutch. \u201cPeople who give smaller gifts over time should be encouraged. Our series of endowments have benefited UConn and our retirement income. The bottom line will be a modest legacy to a great University.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hutchinsons were instrumental in establishing the Friends of Soccer booster club, which has helped grow the soccer program into one of the best in the country, says men\u2019s coach Ray Reid (1997-present). In addition to gifts of cash, the Hutchinsons have established charitable gift annuities that give them income for life, and the principal balance ultimately will be used as a bequest to endow a scholarship for the women\u2019s soccer team.<\/p>\n

\"<p>In<\/a>
In this 1941 team photo, Jon Hutchinson is wearing the no. 2 jersey (front row, third from left). Photo supplied by the Hutchinsons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hutch grew up in Bristol and enrolled at UConn in 1939. Soccer coach John Squires (1937-41 and 1946-68) recruited him to fill out the team roster, even though Hutch had no experience, and unwittingly inspired a new devotion.<\/p>\n

While starring at right wing, Hutch completed a B.S. in history. He later returned to earn a sixth-year diploma in educational technology. Mrs. Hutchinson, a native of Manchester, attended Syracuse University followed by nursing school at Yale University. The couple married in 1948 and had seven children. The Hutchinsons spent their careers in the Torrington school system, he as a social studies teacher and cross country coach and she as a school nurse.<\/p>\n

For many years, Hutch also brought news of the Huskies to western Connecticut. As a cross country coach, he promoted his students\u2019 success by submitting articles to the Torrington Register-Citizen<\/em> and Waterbury Republican-American<\/em>. When he retired in 1983, the papers asked him to continue reporting on another sport he knew exceptionally well: UConn men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n

Hutch praises the three coaches who made the men\u2019s team what it is today.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Jack Squires laid the foundation,\u201d he says. \u201cHe truly changed my life in those four years, and in our friendship that lasted over 60 years. Coach Joe Morrone [1969-96] was a teacher, and still is, and an organizer of Friends of Soccer. We can\u2019t thank him enough for many memorable times. Coach Ray Reid brought the team\u2019s third national title in 2000, and his success has increased respect for Husky soccer. He has promised us another championship. I hear it in the wind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJon and Betty are two of the most giving people I\u2019ve had the pleasure of associating with in my 40-plus years at UConn,\u201d says Morrone. \u201cBoth have willingly given their time, energy, expertise, and financial support to various programs over the years, especially to men\u2019s soccer. They love our University, and are terrific models for others to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, ages 88 and 90 respectively, still occasionally drive from their home in Concord, N.H., to attend UConn soccer games.<\/p>\n

\"Campaign<\/p>\n

\u201cBetty and Jon have spent their entire lifetime supporting UConn men\u2019s soccer,\u201d says Reid, the current men\u2019s soccer coach. \u201cWhether it be financially, spiritually, or physically, the Hutchinsons have always been there to help. The men\u2019s program has been like another one of their children. They are among the few people I know who have seen all three national championship teams \u2013 in 1948, 1981, and 2000 \u2013 compete. Even today, they still make the commute down from New Hampshire to watch the boys play.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A series of gifts from a UConn alum and his wife has accumulated to a total of $100,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[50],"class_list":["post-11445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 05:34:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11445"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36472,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11445\/revisions\/36472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11445"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=11445"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}