Connecticut Scholar-Athlete Program Presented Virtually [VIDEO]

CONNECTICUT — For the second straight year, the 38th annual Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Scholar-Athlete Awards celebration took place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. The half-hour television special, featuring photos of all 363 CIAC statewide scholar-athletes. was hosted by 4-time Connecticut Sportscaster of the Year Bob Picozzi, and aired Sunday evening on Fox61.

The ceremony is one of the longest running CAS-CIAC events, honoring standout senior student athletes every year since 1984. The keynote speaker was Connecticut sports legend Bobby Valentine, an all-state athlete in three sports at Stamford’s Rippowam High School before going on to a lengthy career in Major League Baseball as a player and manager.

Feature stories focus on Norwich Free Academy's Makayla Kelley, recipient of a $20,000 Martin Luther King Jr. Trust Fund Scholarship, and Rockville High School's Charles Bannon, who underwent brain surgery just a week before the March 2020 lockdown. Danbury High School’s Patrick Rosetti is profiled after being named this year’s Michael H. Savage Spirit of Sport Award winner. He played quarterback for the Hatters and excelled as a student, despite the challenges of a severe speech impediment.

The Scholar-Athlete Program annually recognizes two high school seniors from each CIAC member high school whose academic and athletic careers have been exemplary, whose personal standards and achievements are a model to others, and who possess high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage.

A complete list of award recipients may be found here. The TV presentation may be viewed below.

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