By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
Since 1985, the Michaels Achievement Cup has been the standard of excellence for high school sports programs in Connecticut.
The program evolved from the dream of the late Roy Michaels, former CEO of Michaels Jewelers, the founding sponsor. His son, John Michaels, currently chairs both the company and the Cup committee. The original plan was to honor the state's best high school football team and that quickly evolved into the overall sports program.
At first, wins and losses were the sole criterion, but within a year that had changed. A committee comprised of representatives from the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors, the Connecticut High School Coaches Association, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance put together an all-encompassing program which includes a number of categories.
The program is designed to be objective in nature with schools filling out a questionnaire which, when combined with information from CIAC, becomes the basis for entry.
The Michaels Cup program honors outstanding high school athletic programs in Connecticut through an objective formula based on achievement (wins and losses); student participation in athletics; demonstrable programs in the areas of academic support, sportsmanship and substance abuse; plus athletic training, participation in non-CIAC sports (such as crew, skiing, fencing, bowling, girls' ice hockey and the like) and participation in Unified Sports.
Schools are grouped by combined male and female enrollment in the upper three grades (although freshman participants are counted in that category). The pool is divided into six equal segments ranging from Class LL to Class S. The top three finishers in each division are honored at the Gold Key Dinner as are the top schools in two special categories: regional vocational/technical schools and schools considered to be urban.
In addition, one school which has the best overall marks is selected as the winner of the Michaels Achievement Cup, which is on display at the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame exhibit at Rentschler Field, home of the University of Connecticut football team.
The top three finishers in Class LL are Staples-Westport, Simsbury and Ridgefield.
Class L winners are Daniel Hand-Madison, Pomperaug-Southbury and Farmington.
Class MM winners are Darien, Seymour and Berlin.
Class M winners are Weston, Holy Cross-Waterbury and Haddam-Killingworth.
Class SS winners are Lyme-Old Lyme, Northwest Catholic-West Hartford and Somers.
Class S winners are Shepaug Valley-Washington, St. Bernard-Uncasville and Litchfield.
The top three in the Regional/Vocational Technical School field are Kaynor Tech-Waterbury, Windham Tech-Willimantic and Ella T. Grasso Tech-Groton.
All winners will be honored Sunday at the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance's 66th Gold Key Dinner (4:30 p.m., AquaTurf Club, Southington).
In addition to the Michaels Cup, the Alliance will honor a number of Connecticut best in a variety of categories.
The Alliance will present John Wentworth Good Sport Awards to individuals who unselfishly give back to their communities. This year's recipients are: Donald Longtin (Glastonbury), Matt Fischer (Cheshire), Bob Russell (Madison), Dave Ruotolo (West Haven), Gary Moore (New Haven), Bill Donovan (Norwich) and Nick Koules (Stamford).
Russell is heavily involved in both ice hockey and lacrosse. In hockey, he has been an on-ice official for more than 30 years and is president of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Ice Hockey Officials Association and also the national president (2002-2003). He was the supervisor of officials for the Metro-Atlantic Conference and the ECAC, is an NCAA replay official and sits on the Hobey Baker Award committee.
In lacrosse, he is the president of Connecticut /New York Youth Lacrosse (CONNY), an organization serving over 5000 boys in grades 3-8. He is on the national training committee for coaching certification for US Lacrosse and is on the publication committee for Lacrosse Magazine. He coached Team Scotland in the lacrosse World Championships last summer and is the head coach for the Connecticut Select team which will play in the US Lacrosse National Youth Festival this summer. He and his wife, Katy, reside in Madison.
Longtin has volunteered for the Glastonbury Little League for 40 years and has served as president of the league for the last 30 years. During his tenure the Glastonbury Little League has grown from 350 players to over 1,400 players ranging from ages 5-16 in both baseball and girls softball. Glastonbury is one of the more innovative little leagues using special participation rules and pitch counts for players.
Moore, who has won 21 state titles in boys and girls track at Hillhouse High School, has also made a difference in the community. Moore has been an integral part of the Play It Smart Program. Hillhouse was one of four pilot programs for the national program, which guides high school student-athletes through SAT preparation, college applications, community service events and accountability lessons. He has been co-director of the New Haven Skills Football Combine and Play It Smart College Coaches Football Fair, both of which help New Haven athletes interact with prospective college recruiters. He has served on the Governor's Cup (Connecticut vs. Rhode Island) football game committee and has organized and served as meet director for several camps and track meets in the New Haven area for all age groups. He was honored by the Secretary of State for his work with the New Haven community last year.
Koules is a longtime fixture on the Fairfield County sports scene, officiating in baseball, basketball and soccer for more than six decades. Koules, who turned 90 last week, still stays active by serving as a referee for youth basketball games in Stamford.
Fischer is currently the Director of Information for CAS-CIAC and has over 20 years experience working in the media relations field. A University and Chapman College graduate, Fischer spent 10 years working with San Francisco Giants, first as Assistant Director of Media Relations and then as Director of Media Relations. He Moved to Connecticut in May, 1994 and formed Fishman Communications, LLC, now E-fish solutions, in 1995, which provided print, graphic design and web services to both sports-related and non-sports related organizations including Yale University, several professional sports franchises, a number of retail operations and professional firms. Fischer developed the initial casciac.org website in 1997 when CAS-CIAC was a client of e-fish solutions and became a fulltime CAS-CIAC employee in July, 2004 as Director of Information Services. Married for 18 years (Linda), two children (Lisa, 12 and Brian, 9), resides in Cheshire.
Donovan, a former Shore Line Newspapers' correspondent, has broadcast high school sporting events in Eastern Connecticut for the last 25 years. Starting with AM radio in the late 1970s, Donovan can be found in the press box during football season and courtside during basketball season. His broadcast partner, Mike McLaughlin, is also a Good Sport Award recipient and the duo host a weekly local sports program weekly.
Ruotolo has spent over 35 years involved with the West Haven Little League starting as a manager in 1971. He has been President of West Haven Little League twice and has served an integral role in the development of the West Haven Little League. Ruotolo is responsible for the building of field 4 at the Little League Complex in West Haven and has also served as a player agent the director of daily operations. He coordinated the building of additional fields in West Haven from 1987-1990 and served as softball chairman for District 4 from 1991 to the present.
A special President's Award will be made to New Britain Rock Cats' president Bill Dowling of East Haddam, a former Madison resident. He will be cited for his efforts over many years in making New Britain one of the showcase teams in Class AA baseball.
The Alliance will present its Bo Kolinsky Scholarship to Tim Walsh of Lyman Memorial High School in Lebanon.
The Gold Key recipients are Doc Hurley (Weaver-Hartford high school administrator), Jim O'Neill (New London, Waterford high school administrator), Charlie Bentley (Warren Harding-Bridgeport boys basketball coach) and Deborah Chin (University of New Haven Director of Athletics).
Other award recipients include Hank O'Donnell female athlete of the year Amanda Pape (Trinity Catholic High, Sacred Heart University women's basketball; Bill Lee male athletes of the year Ed McCarthy (Trumbull High, Yale football and Justice Hairston (New Britain High, Central Connecticut State University football); Doc McInerney High School Coaches of the Year Sal Coppola (Amity Regional baseball) and Beryl Piper (New Britain girls' basketball); the Bob Casey Courage Award to Kristina Miner (Suffield, Trinity College women's track); the Art McGinley Service Award to Ted Moynihan (retired, Meriden Record-Journal sportswriter); Championship Awards to golfer J.J. Henry (Buick Championship, from Fairfield) and boxers Travis Sims (WBA Super Welterweight) and Chad Dawson (WBC Light Heavyweight) plus the Trinity men's squash and Southern Connecticut State University women's basketball team.
