Gold Key Honorees Share Memories as 77th Annual Dinner Nears

CHESHIRE, CT — At a first-ever gathering of the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance's 2018 Gold Key recipients, numerous stories were shared, many of which had nothing to do with actual between-the-lines competition.

Golfer Dennis Coscina, field hockey coach Dot Johnson, football coach Lou Marinelli and ice hockey player Gretchen Ulion Silverman were joined by members of the media at a luncheon and press conference last week at the CIAC offices in Cheshire. Len Tsantiris, who recently retired as women's soccer coach at the University of Connecticut, joined the proceedings from his new home in Florida via conference call.

With resumes that includes dozens of state championships, thousands of victories and even an Olympic gold medal, each Gold Key recipient was asked their most memorable highlight of their careers. Surprisingly, some of the answers involved moments that may seem insignificant to outsiders, but are obviously ingrained in the minds of the honorees.

Coscina, a graduate of Pulaski High School in New Britain who has resided in East Windsor since 1975, won eight Connecticut PGA Sectional championships and was named Connecticut Section Player of the Year six times. He also played two years on the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour), playing some of the finest golf courses in the country alongside legends like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

His most unforgettable victory? "The one that I really remember and will always cherish is my dad and I winning the state father and son championship at New Haven Country Club when I was 15. We qualified at Shuttle Meadow in Kensington, and I wish I still had my swing from way back then."

Johnson coached Granby Memorial High School field hockey for 34 years, winning seven state championships before stepping down after the 2002 season. In 1973, the first CIAC state tournament for the sport included only an open division, and the Bears prevailed in a 2-1 thriller over Guilford, a school with more than double the number of students.

Reflecting on that historic victory at Yale University, the first state title ever won by any Granby team, Johnson quipped, “I never realized how strong my girls were from all that conditioning until they carried me off that field.”

Marinelli, who became Connecticut's all-time winningest high school football coach during the 2017 season, has compiled 12 state championships during his 37-year tenure at New Canaan High School. However, his biggest thrill had nothing to do with the sport.

"It was being asked to be the graduation speaker in 2009," he said without hesitation. "Seeing it wasn't just football, it was more to it, and that was the ultimate honor. My message was, 'Never forget where you came from and there's no place like New Canaan'."

Tsantiris, who retired from UConn following the 2017 season, is second all-time in NCAA history with 570 victories, and led the Huskies to the national championship game on four occasions. He barely mentioned those feats during the press conference, focusing instead on the rapid explosion of women's soccer during his tenure.

"When I started coaching (at E.O. Smith High School) in 1977, there were 12 high school girls teams in the state," he recalled. "When I went to UConn in 1981, there were 35 to 40 women's teams across the country, between Divisions I, II and III. Now there are hundreds. In the early '80s, we had a warming hut at the ice skating rink, which was outdoors, and everybody and their families would fit in that. Now when we have a meeting, we have to have an auditorium."

Women's ice hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998 at the Nagano Winter Games in Japan, and in the initial gold medal contest between the United States and favored Canada, Ulion Silverman netted the first goal in what became a 3-1 victory. The former Marlborough resident and Loomis Chaffee School graduate, who set scoring records which still stand at Dartmouth College, wound up tied for the team lead with eight points in six games.

She fondly described standing on the medal podium with her teammates - "we were belting out the national anthem" - but said, being a lifelong Hartford Whalers fan, she experienced a similar thrill when she was about 10 years old.

"I got to play in the mini one-on-one between periods of a Whalers game,” she said. “I was a goalie then and we advanced to the finals, but our team had qualified for the New England tournament in Maine and they conflicted, so we had to miss the Whalers thing. That was a real magical moment, being a girl and being out on that ice.”

These reflections and many others are sure to be brought up in a more formal setting at the 77th Gold Key Dinner, slated for Sunday, April 29 at 3 p.m. at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. In addition to the five Gold Key recipients, 17 other individuals will be honored that afternoon:

• President's Award: Leah Secondo, athlete/sportscaster
• Hank O'Donnell Female Athlete of the Year: Autumn Sorice, Western Connecticut State University soccer
• Bill Lee Male Athlete of the Year: Alex Zachary, Eastern Connecticut State University baseball
• Hal Levy High School Athletes of the Year: Abby Abramson, Cheshire softball; Spencer Lockwood, Killingly football
• Doc McInerney High School Coaches of the Year: Holly Misto, New London girls basketball; Jeff Brameier, Darien boys lacrosse
• Bob Casey Courage Award: Katie Shea, RHAM High School; Steve Daniels, Southington
• John Wentworth Good Sport Awards: Ed DiPersio, Meriden; Dave Farr, Windsor Locks; Maryellen Holden, Forestville; Don Lombardo, Middletown; Mike Madera, West Haven; Paul Majeski, New Britain
• Art McGinley Award: Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant
• Bo Kolinsky Memorial Sports Journalism Scholarship: Ryan Fraleigh, RHAM High School

Tickets may be ordered through April 15 by contacting CSWA president Tim Jensen at 860-394-5091.

Photo credit: Gerry deSimas/Collinsville Press