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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. -- The Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which celebrated its 50th year during the 2010-2011 campaign, will receive the Presidents Award from the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance at the 71st annual Gold Key Dinner on April 29 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.
The conference was founded in 1961, beginning that fall season with 12 schools and growing to its current total of 19 members. During its five decades of existence, it has produced such outstanding athletes as Major League manager Bobby Valentine, Basketball Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy, Super Bowl MVP Steve Young, and U.S. World Cup soccer champion Kristine Lilly.
It has long been recognized as one of the top high school athletic conferences in the state, producing 839 state championship teams in its first 50 years and another 356 runners-up for a total of 1,195 state finalists.
In addition, more than 40 coaches from its schools have been inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance also will be presenting Gold Keys to Kristine Lilly, Dave Shea, John Dunham and Mike Walsh. Lilly, who played soccer at Wilton High School, and Walsh, the current head boys basketball coach at Trinity Catholic in Stamford, also have ties to the conference.
Tickets to the 2012 Gold Key Dinner, which begins at 4 p.m., can be purchased by contacting either alliance President George Albano, of The (Norwalk) Hour, at Truckin114@AOL.com, or Vice President and Dinner Chairman Bob Ehalt, of The New Haven Register, at Ehalt.B@sbcglobal.net. Tickets can also be obtained by mailing a check for $75 to Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance, P.O. Box 70, Unionville, CT, 06085.
For more information on the history of the dinner, visit the Alliance website at ctsportswriters.org.
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