Abigail Cushman, Editor-in-Chief
@abigailccourant
On Friday, October 19, seven new members were inducted into the NCHS Athletic Hall of Fame at the biennial Hall of Fame induction dinner. Sponsored by the All Sports Booster Club and hosted at Woodway Country Club, the event was attended by 148 people. As per tradition, the dinner, which has been hosted since 1996, occurred on homecoming night, returning after a four year hiatus due to Covid-19.
Athletic Director Jay Egan, former Athletic Director Vinny Ioveno, and Sports Writer Terry Dinan were excited to reinstate the event. The three began planning in May with an ad hoc induction committee chosen by Jay Egan. The committee, made up of past inductees and Executive Members of the All Sports Booster Club, met several times to formulate this year’s group of inductees. “We spitballed ideas of who we thought were deserving nominees,” Mr. Dinan said. “Everybody gave four to ten names, and many of the names crossed over. That’s how we determined who we put on the final list.”
This was the first year that the committee reached out to the public for nominees, and those nominated had to fulfill a specific criteria. “If you’re an athlete, you must be at least ten years out of New Canaan High School,” Mr. Egan said. “If you are a coach or any other kind of administrator or adult, you must not be actively serving in your role.” While members are generally inducted for the work they did during high school, many inductees have experienced accolade-studded professional athletic careers.
In order to allot enough time at the dinner for each inductee to receive sufficient recognition, the committee kept the number of new Hall of Fame members to a minimum. As for those that were not inducted, their time will come. “We have people that didn’t quite make it this year, not because they weren’t good enough, but because we wanted to get some of the people from previous eras like the ‘60s and ‘70s in before we did the ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s,” Mr. Dinan said.
Once the inductees were selected, Mr. Dinan, as the Master of Ceremonies for the event, formulated their introductions. “Everybody is asked to submit their own personal biography. It’s a very difficult thing to write about yourself,” he said. For this reason, Mr. Dinan had to utilize the New Canaan Library, the New Canaan Historical Society, old yearbooks, and old records to gather information about the inductees. “When there’s more to people than just the wins and the losses, you want to make sure you include what makes them special.”
In addition to their personal accomplishments in athletics, this year’s group of inductees share some coincidental similarities. Inductee Andy Towers was class of 1987. “His family and another family co-founded the lacrosse association,” Mr. Egan said. Inductee Anthony Lapolla was class of 1951, and spent 50 years on the New Canaan Police Department. “He and some other people from the police department started the youth football program in New Canaan.”
Inductee Emily Stauffer also shares connections to the foundation of New Canaan athletics. “Emily’s mother was probably the founding family of youth soccer in New Canaan. Emily had a particularly moving story because her older brother, Matt, who went to Williams, was diagnosed with leukemia,” Mr. Egan said. Matt Stauffer played soccer in the center midfield position, earning All-FCIAC and All-State honors in both his junior and senior years at NCHS. He passed away at 23 years old. “At the induction dinner, Emily told the story of how athletics and soccer supported her and her family through her brother’s passing.”
The induction dinner also allowed attendees to reflect back on the foundation of the Athletic Hall of Fame itself. “We were very blessed to have Fiz Tomaselli at the event. She was one of the charter members of the board that started this,” Mr. Dinan said. Because inductees Boyd Harden and Andy Towers were lacrosse players, the lacrosse association also had representation at the dinner, as did the soccer association. Other attendees included family and friends of each inductee in attendance, and returning participants who are passionate about NCHS Athletics.
At the event, the inductees were introduced and then given the chance to make remarks. “Every time I go, I wish students could see and hear these inductees as they reflect back on their experiences in high school and the impact that athletics have had on the course of their lives,” Mr. Egan said. Both Mr. Egan and Mr. Dinan appreciate how intertwined high school sports are with the community across generations. “Multi-generational families and families who are new to New Canaan all come together and support high school athletics,” Mr. Egan said.
Contributed by David Stewart
Mr. Dinan looks forward to future inductions for this very reason. “In around ten, fifteen years, we’re going to be inducting players from the NFL, MLB, NHL, and more, but none of those guys would be where they are today if it wasn’t for the people who we’ve already inducted,” he said. The Athletic Hall of Fame’s mission remains the same: to celebrate and to honor sports figures of the past in order to continue moving forward into the future. As Mr. Dinan puts it, “We stand on the shoulders of the people who forged the path for everybody who came afterwards.”
2022 Hall of Fame Inductees (biographies written by Terry Dinan)
- Boyd Harden (NCHS class of ’83) earned nine varsity letters in his time as a Ram in football, hockey and lacrosse. A multiple All-State and All-FCIAC recipient, Harden won two CIAC titles in both football and lacrosse while also winning three FCIAC championships in ice hockey. He went on to a stellar collegiate career at UNC Chapel Hill, winning an NCAA National Championship with the Tar Heels in 1986 and became New Canaan’s first-ever lacrosse player to earn First-Team All-American honors in 1988.
- Bo Hickey was a Stamford native, starring in football, baseball, basketball and track for Stamford Catholic High School. He was named All-Fairfield County and All-State in football as a senior. Hickey went on to play football at Maryland where he led the Terps in rushing his sophomore season while being named second team All-ACC. Hickey went on to play pro football for the Denver Broncos, Montreal Alouettes, Brooklyn Dodgers and Long Island Bulls before retiring and moving on to coaching in 1974. It is here where Bo cemented his legend, first as an assistant at Staples then at New Canaan where he was an assistant coach to Lou Marinelli for three decades and a valuable part of four FCIAC and eight State championship teams. In 1994, he took over a 1-7 New Canaan team midseason and led them to an FCIAC title. He turned the Rams into a perennial state powerhouse, guiding them to undefeated regular season records in 1998-99 and 2010-11. In Hickey’s tenure, the Rams won 10 FCIAC hockey crowns, including in his final year as coach in 2014, and made six state championship finals appearances.
- Anthony “Dinny” Lapolla (NCHS class of ’51) was a three-sport letterman in football, basketball and baseball. A member of the 1951 NCHS baseball team, Lapolla helped lead the Rams to the state title …the last state championship for the Rams until 2013. After high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps and served in the Korean War. After his military service ended, he became a New Canaan police officer in 1958 reaching the rank of sergeant before retiring in 1988. Dinny continued with his love of sports throughout his adult life playing semi-pro baseball and excelling in golf. He shared his football skills by founding New Canaan Pop Warner teams, which won awards from 1961 through 1971 and was credited with developing more high school athletes than any Pop Warner coach in the history of the state. Lapolla died on June 25, 2018 after battling a long illness.
- Frank Panella (NCHS class of ’73) was a versatile, talented football player who alternated between halfback and split end on New Canaan’s great teams of the early 1970s playing under legendary head coach Bob Lynch. Panella gained 1,454 yards as a Ram, still ranking in the top-15 all-time more than a half-century later. Equally adept at receiving as he was at rushing, Panella had 109 career receptions, good for the 4th highest total in program history. His 1,735 career receiving yards placed him 6th all-time and his 23 career receiving touchdowns are good for the 5th highest total ever at NCHS. An All-FCIAC and New Haven Register All-State selection in 1972 in football, Panella was also the leader of the NCHS baseball team, earning All-FCIAC honors as a senior while leading New Canaan to the 1973 FCIAC East title.
- Emily Stauffer (NCHS class of ’94) was a two-time first team All American for the Rams and was named All-State and All-FCIAC each of her four years as a varsity soccer player. In her senior year as captain, Stauffer led New Canaan to a state championship. Stauffer went on to play at Harvard and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year her freshman season. In her four years playing for the Crimson, she led the team to three Ivy League Championships earning three All-American honors and was named First Team All-Ivy each season. She was a two-time finalist for the Herman and Mac Award and a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year. Following her collegiate career, Stauffer played pro soccer for the New York Power of the Women’s United Soccer Association, the first professional soccer league for women in US history.
- Andy Towers (NCHS class of ’87) played both varsity basketball and lacrosse for the Rams and led New Canaan to three straight State Lacrosse Championships, earning All-American honors as a junior. In 1988, Towers played for the 19 & Under USA Team that won the World Championship in Adelaide, Australia. Towers went on to play at Brown University where he led the Bruins to Ivy and New England Championships while garnering multiple postseason honors and set numerous school records. After college, Towers continued his playing career in the professional indoor and outdoor leagues and held head coaching positions at University of Hartford and Dartmouth. After coaching college lacrosse for 19 years, Towers is now in his fourth season as the Head Coach of the Chaos Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League. He won the PLL Coach of the Year Award during its inaugural season in 2019 and coached the team to the 2021 PLL World Championship last summer.
- Diane Murphy-Kivell (NCHS 1981-2021) has dedicated 39 years of service to the NCHS Athletic Department and to the Town of New Canaan. It would be hard to argue that Diane has touched more young people’s lives than any other teacher, coach or administrator during her years in New Canaan. She has been a highly capable health service provider as well as a trusted adult to thousands of New Canaan High School students. It is truly remarkable when you consider that Diane has dedicated her entire professional life to the New Canaan Athletic Community. In 2015, she earned the “Secondary Athletic Trainer of the Year Award” from the state association for athletic trainers in recognition of her work. Under Murphy-Kivell’s leadership, NCHS was consistently recognized with the Safe School Award from the National Athletic Trainers Association. She has an undergraduate degree from Southern Connecticut State University and a graduate degree from Marshall University. She has been honored as a recipient of the Micro Bio Medic Scholastic Athletic Trainer of the Year award, Outstanding Alumni Award at Marshall University, and the 2015 Donald Bagnall award from the Connecticut Athletic Trainers Association. Diane also serves as a preceptor for Sacred Heart University.
Photos contributed by David Stewart
