After 31 years as a constant and motivating fixture on the sidelines, Joe Dittola will retire as New Canaan High School football's defensive coordinator. More than 150 people attended Dittola's retirement party at the Norwalk Sons of Italy on Friday night. Friends, family members, coaches, and many former players came to pay tribute to someone they consider a great mentor and teacher.
"He's one of my dearest, dearest friends," New Canaan head coach Lou Marinelli said of Dittola. "He's like my brother. He's a guy I've spent some of the best times of my life with. And I've coached with him as long as I've been with my wife."
Many past players were in attendance to honor Coach Dittola, ranging from recent graduates, to several members of the 1982 state championship team. It was clear from the enthusiastic handshakes and hugs Dittola was receiving, he was a coach that shaped the lives of many people.
"He was one of the best coaches I've ever known to balance sound technical training with motivational zeal," Kyle Duncan, former New Canaan lineman and Class of '08, said. "He is the most dedicated coach to his craft I have ever seen."
Dittola, wearing a black New Canaan polo shirt, lit up with a huge smile as he encountered every person in the hall. What he says he is most proud of is how his formers players performed in games and what they have gone on to become as adults.
"There were a lot of times we weren't bigger, or swifter, or faster than our opponents," Dittola said. "These kids didn't get outhit by anybody. They were great kids and it's evident by what they are now. They're leaders in the community. They're policemen. They're soldiers. They're big people in the business world."
Coach Dittola admitted the end of the 2009 season was a strange moment for him as he contemplated his final moments on the field as a coach.
"The last state championship we won up in Stratford, it was sort of surreal," Dittola said. "The snowflakes were falling, we got the shutout, just looking at the scoreboard that whole thing is just embedded in my mind, especially being the last one. What a way to go out."
Coach Dittola says he is looking forward to spending more time with his wife and three daughters. He will stay on as a special education teacher in the New Canaan school system.
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