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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. Six new members of the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame and Sports Persons of the Year from 15 county towns were honored Monday at the seventh annual SportsNight at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich.
The family of Stamford native Brian Bill, a U.S. Navy SEAL who was killed in action on Aug. 6 in Afghanistan, accepted the Chelsea Cohen Courage Award. New Canaan swimmer Christian Higgins was also honored as the towns Sports Person of the Year.
The Hall of Fame classes included Stamfords Bennett Salvatore, an NBA referee, and former NBA star John Bagley of Bridgeport in the Jackie Robinson Professional Wing. Joe DeSantis, a former college basketball standout at Fairfield, and distance runner Ceci Hopp St. Geme were inducted into the James ORourke Amateur Wing. Former Staples soccer coach Albie Loeffler and Bridgeports Charlie Bentley, a longtime basketball coach at Harding High School, joined the J. Walter Kennedy Community Service Wing.
The highlight of the evening was a tribute to Bill by Greenwich native Steve Young. The NFL Hall of Famer delivered his message via video. Bill graduated from Trinity Catholic High School, where he played soccer and hockey. The Forever Young Foundation, the charitable entity of the former NFL quarterback, sponsors the Cohen Award. It is named after a former Norwalk High girls soccer star who died in 2006 after battling a rare form of cancer of the nervous system.
Higgins, who competed for the Wilton Wahoos, won two events at the YMCA Short Course championships in the spring. He holds 24 Connecticut swimming records and is a seven-time high school All-American. He set two national records in the YMCA championships and now competes for the University of California, the defending NCAA champions.
The Fairfield County Sports Commission hosted the dinner. The commission is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting fitness and active, healthy lifestyles as well as personal development through sports. The group introduced the Chelsea Cohen Fitness Academy this year. The academy supplements and complements existing sports and fitness programs.
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