NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (BVM) — Donovan Dorce grew up in ‘Hard-Hittin New Britain’ where he played organized baseball and backyard football most of his childhood. It wasn’t until his freshman year of high school that Dorce started playing organized football. 

“Growing up in New Britain and seeing my parents work hard for what they have was very motivating,” Dorce said. “They truly taught me to never give up and if I fall nine times I still get up 10.”

New Britain, Conn. has a wide range of diversity. A place where it’s not too small, but not too big. A place that within it, everyone knows each other. 

“Living in New Britain was actually diverse and shaped me to actually be cool with all walks of life,” Dorce said. “It also taught me to be very fortunate of what I have and to work for anything I want.”

As a member of the New Britain High Class of 2017, Dorce was an exceptional student athlete, who took his education and athletic career seriously. Dorce played numerous positions on the football field for the Canes while also running track as a second sport.

“Playing football for New Britain High meant a lot to me since my head coach was my uncle,” Dorce said. “I felt as if I had to always perform my best and lead by example. It was very fun and when you play varsity sports for a school like New Britain High. It seems like you’re kind of a celebrity.”

On the track Dorce was a multi-positional athlete running in events like; pole vault, 800–meter, and the 4-by-800 relay team. At the end of his senior year, Dorce ran in the decathlon which included all track events. 

In his senior year, Dorce earned a spot on the Connecticut All-Star football team as a wide receiver for his play on the field. 

“I felt honored honestly, I felt like all of my hard work paid off,” Dorce said. “I was even able to start on the Nutmeg All-Star team which felt good as well.” 

After high school Dorce went to Post University where he was recruited to play Sprint football and would major in business management. Most of its students participate exclusively online and the university is part of Division II athletics. 

Sprint football, also known as, ‘lightweight football,’ is a similar sport to American football with standard American football rules. The only difference between the two is a weight limit of 178-pounds. Sprint football excels in ‘small ball’ meaning there aren’t any 300-pound lineman on either side of the ball. This type of football mainly relies on speed and footwork. 

Dorce took the wide receiver position more seriously than his other talents on the football field when he got to Post University.

“Playing for Post was very fun to be honest,” Dorce said. “I liked how intense the training was. It made me a better athlete.” 

While appearing in four games his freshman season, Dorce started to make strides in his other passion, sneakers. Dorce has a passion for customizing sneakers, which developed at the age of 14. The first sneaker he ever customized was a pair of Jordan’s that he had for a long time. The pair of shoes were in need of a new paint job and would spark Dorce’s interest in customization.

Once Dorce started to make a name for himself with cleaning and customizing sneakers, he quickly began to create his new business, Dorce Customs. 

“It means a lot and I’m just so grateful because not a lot of people my age can say that,” Dorce said when talking about what it means to be a business owner. “It took a lot of hard work and dedication to truly get to where I’m at. Especially being a minority the odds are against you but I tend to not even think about that and I keep on working hard to achieve my goals.”

So far Dorce has succeeded in all of his endeavors and everything he’s wanted to achieve. 

“It’s actually been really good, my business has been growing everyday since the day I opened the shop,” Dorce said.

Dorce has more than one thousand followers on Instagram already within a month of opening. That says a lot about how people feel about his business within the area. With Dorce opening up his shoe shop in downtown New Britain, Conn, the people in the city and around the city have opened their arms to him and his business. 

“The feedback that I’ve received… is that this is a new type of business,” Dorce stated. “It’s a landmark and has a lot of potential to be a great business inspired by the love I’ve been getting from the people in the city.” 

Dorce opened up his shoe custom store in downtown New Britain in January.