Captain Kaylie's Avon HS Falcons Honored With Very Special Award

AVON, CT — Last fall, Avon High School senior Kaylie Murphy completed a successful, four-year career with the AHS field hockey team and was a team captain.

But that isn't her full story.

That's because Kaylie has autism and her four-year participation with the field hockey squad has, in the words of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletics Conference (CIAC), been an example of "inclusion, kindness and opportunity."

Last week, the CIAC named the Avon High School Field Hockey Team a recipient of the Michael H. Savage Spirit of Sport Award. The team will be honored at the CIAC scholar-athlete banquet on May 3.

According to the CIAC, this "prestigious award seeks to recognize individuals who exemplify the ideals of the positive spirit of sport that represent the core mission of education-based athletics."

It is named after former CIAC Executive Director Michael Savage, who retired after 30 years in 2009.

In Kaylie's four years, she has practiced with the team, assisted the team in drills, and inspired her teammates to be their best.

AHS field hockey coach Terri Ziemnicki said Kaylie's role on the team has been special for all of her "40 sisters" on the squad.

In fact, they're not a team. They're a family.

"I think back if she had never played field hockey, what would have been the opportunity where it just clicked?" Ziemnicki said. "It's magical."

The CIAC recognized Kaylie's magic, but also the magic of a field hockey team that easily welcomed her into the fold, providing other programs with an example of what high school sports are aimed to be.

A moving video on Kaylie Murphy and the Avon High School Field Hockey team was put on YouTube by the CIAC, and it can be watched here.

For more information on the 2026 Michael H. Savage Spirit of Sport Awards, click on this link.