The New York Dragons have added the first two players to their roster, and it is completely on brand for the new, exciting team.
When I spoke with General Manger Peter Schwartz, after he was hired by the Dragons, he expressed that he wanted to comprise a team that was all about Long Island and would be made up of Long Islanders. The teams first two players have stayed true to Schwartz's lofty goal and the two players fit perfectly with the team.
The Dragons have invited Kendall Nero-Clark and Jimmy Regateiro, to training camp for their upcoming season. Both Nero-Clark and Regateiro are Long Islanders, and both left their impact on the island at Half Hollow Hills High Schools.
Nero-Clark is a wide receiver and defensive back from Wheatley Heights, New York. Clark went to Half Hollow Hills East and was a first-team All-Suffolk County wide receiver and defensive back in 2017-18. In that season, he also led the team to its best regular season record in the school’s history. Clark then stayed true to his Island roots when he decided to play football at Stony Brook University as a defensive back. He made most of his impact on special teams but got in plenty of game action throughout his career. He is a personal trainer on Long Island for athletes looking to compete in college athletics.
Jimmy Regateiro played for Half Hollow Hills West High School. He is a both an offensive and defensive lineman who received many awards which included All Division, All County, All State, All Long Island, and showed his leadership skills as he was named the Team Captain and MVP. Like Nero-Clark, Regateiro stayed on Long Island to continue his playing career in college at Long Island University. That is where he led the school to an undefeated NEC Championship season in 2018 and was inducted into the National College Athlete Honor Society.
His Long Island connections stayed strong after his career where in 2023, he became an offensive and defensive line coach for Half Hollow Hills East High School, and he helped lead the team to a Suffolk County Championship in 2024.
Both players not only have big time Long Island roots, but they also have roots to the coaching staff that Schwartz has put together. Clark played for the newly named Dragon's head coach Gerald Filardi on the Long Island Spartans, a travel youthfootball team and Filardi coached Half Hollow Hills West.
Schwartz said of the players “The Dragons are thrilled to welcome Jimmy and Kendall to training camp. We're looking forward to making more player announcements before training camp opens on June 1st."