What is your name and what is your role with Milford FC?
My name is Matt Gramata and I am the manager (and player) for Milford FC. Besides playing on the team, I select players, schedule fields, manage team finances, organize tryouts, etc. I manage pretty much everything haha.

When was the club founded and why?
The club played its first season in 2006 and was started by former West Milford high school students and residents that were looking to play competitive soccer again in an organized league. I joined the team in 2010 after moving up to the West Milford area from Princeton, NJ after getting a teaching job at West Milford High School. The team continued to develop and in 2017 I took over the role of running the club. Since then, we have made the state league playoff annually, entered the NJ State Open Cup where last year we reached the quarterfinal (with a 1-0 loss to Hoboken F.C.), and with the growing interest in the club, we are now expanding to house a reserve team in addition to our first team. My goal is to also create a strong relationship with the club and the community to help foster the growth of both youth and senior players respectively. We are one of, if not the only competitive amateur football club in the northern Passaic/Sussex county area, and I hope we can provide the youth players and families in this area an outlet to watch high quality soccer.

How has your time in the GSSL been and what led you to join that league? As the club gets more experienced and maybe a little larger, would you ever consider a National league like NPSL or UPSL? Or is this exactly where you need to be?
We have been participating in the GSSL since the team began (since I joined the team as well) and our experience has been great. There are always issues with teams cancelling, referees, etc., but as a whole the GSSL runs a highly competitive league that incentivizes promotion and maintains great relationships with the team managers. Our goal is to move our two teams up the GSSL league ranks and if we continue to trend in the direction we are headed, we would definitely consider the NPSL or UPSL in the future. Both myself and my players are not content where we are and look forward to taking the club to the next level.

You recently updated your club badge and got fresh gear designed by Icarus FC - what led to those changes and how did you discover Icarus FC? Will either of those kits be for sale!?
I stumbled across Icarus FC through their incredible social media marketing and know of some New Jersey based teams that have partnered with them on their kits. We had been ordering Adidas kits for the longest time, but they often go out of circulation which makes it difficult to get more for incoming players, etc. With the addition of the reserve team I wanted to go in a new direction, and Icarus FC was the company to partner with hands down. We have the option to create incredible custom kits every year that nobody else will have, and will never have to worry about our designs going out of circulation like in the past. As West Milford is located in a region filled with trees and lakes, I wanted a logo design that was minimalist and a jersey that incorporated the area into the design. The team at Icarus is incredible to work with and knocked it out of the park. I look forward to collaborating with them on future designs and the ability to expand to training gear and fan wear. Right now, the jerseys are not for sale to the public, but if anyone is looking for one, we can make it happen!

Are you playing in a fall or winter schedule? If not, what's the club going to work on over the off season?
In the past, our guys have played in separate indoor leagues during the winter, but this season we are going to look to keep as much of the squad intact during the winter months as a way to continue developing chemistry on and off the pitch.

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Icarus does it… again - brilliant new kits for Milford FC