SOMERS, CT — Nearly 50 years after Lee Pinney helped bring lacrosse to Somers, a fundraising campaign is seeking to honor him with a monument and bronze plaque.
The "Honor Lee Pinney's Lacrosse Legacy" campaign, launched Oct. 8 by JP Sutrich on behalf of Jeffrey Hardy, had raised $5,400 toward its $15,000 goal from nine donations as of Tuesday afternoon.
Organizers credit Pinney with starting the program using his own time and money, then mentoring generations of young athletes.
"He was a positive force during their formative years, giving generously of himself to guide, encourage, and teach countless players," the fundraiser says.
The tribute also has town approval. Somers selectmen voted unanimously Sept. 24 to allow a plaque honoring Pinney at the Firehouse Athletic Fields, according to posted meeting minutes.
Pinney's contributions reached beyond coaching a team.
A spring 2010 Wilbraham & Monson Academy publication recognized his induction into the Connecticut Lacrosse Hall of Fame and described how he had converted his family farm in Somers into a lacrosse destination with 15 fields.
The academy identified Pinney as a 1959 graduate who played at Wilbraham and Cornell, coached boys' and girls' lacrosse in Connecticut schools and also coached wrestling at the academy.
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One of Pinney's players later returned to lead the high school program.
According to Ken McCarthy's National Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame biography, McCarthy joined Pinney's team as a high school senior and became captain by the end of that season. He returned to Somers in 1993 to teach and take over the lacrosse program.
Pinney also founded the Paul Bowers Memorial Lacrosse Tournament in 1987, The Reminder reported in a 2024 story. The tournament honors Bowers, a player Pinney coached who died in a car crash in 1985 at age 17.
In that report, Somers Lacrosse Association President Kevin Foye said sportsmanship was central to the tournament and to what Pinney wanted it to preserve.
"There's a term called honoring the game and playing for the purity of it was something Lee wanted to sustain," Foye told The Reminder.
The new fundraiser seeks to recognize Pinney during his lifetime. Donations will support the monument and bronze plaque, according to the campaign.
For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.
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