KEITH EMERY

Earned 3-varsity letters in football earning All-CCC East honors as offensive guard & defensive tackle.  Served as senior captain of 1989 team that finished 7-3. All-CCC East selection on both offense & defense at Enfield High School in 1989. Ranked 10th in a 1990 graduating class of 222. Received scholar-athlete award from the northern Connecticut chapter of the national football foundation & hall of fame and from the Connecticut association of schools. Played 4-years of Div. 3 college football on a 4-time conference championship team at Dickinson.  Assistant football coach at Stafford & Enfield High schools in’94 & ’95. In 1996, earned Master’s Degree from Springfield College and became assistant football coach at Kenyon College and later Johns Hopkins University (ultimately associate head football coach). Named assistant coach of the year by American Football Coaches association in 2004.  Named Head Coach of WNE in 2005. NEFC Boyd Coach of the Year in 2010.  Starting 7th year at WNE and holds a 29-30 record for a .491 winning percentage.  Member of the AFCA and its public relations committee, and serves on the NCAA championship regional selection committee.

JOEL ARNOLD

Earned Physical Education degree from Springfield College.  Coaching legend in many sports throughout the Enfield schools.  Coached freshman baseball at JFK, and was Assistant Football Coach at Enfield High.  Responsible for developing a Wrestling program for the town of Enfield.  He inspired many kids by coaching wrestling at JFK Middle School, Enfield High, and Enrico Fermi High over his career.  Member of the CIAC state wrestling committee for over 30 years.  Authored a book on the History of Connecticut Wrestling championships, and was the first editor for Connecticut in the national publication, “Scholastic Wrestling News”.  Chairman of the state Wrestling Hall of Fame committee and for the CCIL.  Also, was a Director of the New England & CT Olympic Wrestling camps. Co-Chairman of the U.S. Wrestling Federation Kids Wrestling Program.  Received Man of the Year Award from the Connecticut State Coaches Association.   A true leader for our youth in Enfield and the State of Connecticut.  Joel passed away in September, 2009.

SHARON (LEONARD) CURTIS

Outstanding 2-sport, scholar athlete at Enfield High School. Played 4 years of varsity basketball, and team captain (junior/senior years). EHS Field Hockey 3- year varsity starter as goalie, with over 20 shutouts in her career.  Was named Field Hockey MVP and all-conference in her junior and senior years.  Was 2nd Team All State goalie her senior year. Recognized as the First female athlete at EHS to score over 1,000 points in women’s basketball. Held a single game scoring record of 36 points in 1988 at Simsbury.   Basketball all-CCC East conference first team in her sophomore, junior, and senior years. Received MVP honors all four years of her career, and held the conference record with 18.4 points per game average in her senior year, 1989 (scoring double figures in all 20 games). Represented EHS as the Female Scholar-Athlete for 4 consecutive years (1985-89). Was an All-State Honorable Mention in 1989. Accepted a four year President’s Academic scholarship to the University of Hartford, and graduated Magna Cum Laude.

TONY CONTE

Played 3 years of varsity soccer and basketball at Enfield High School.  Leading scorer in senior year in soccer and selected All-CCIL.  Team Captain in senior year for basketball and averaged 14 pts/game and graduated in 1978.  At age 17, he founded the town’s first soccer organization, Enfield United Soccer Club, where he acted as General Manager, Director of Personnel and Player/Coach.  From 1978-81, played soccer for the Providence College (PC) Friars, and graduated in 1982. In his 4 years on varsity, his team’s compiled 30 wins, 20 losses, and 6 ties. He had 6 goals, 3 assists over his career.  PC’s freshmen squad began a record 11-year run of consecutive winning seasons.  He was the second leading scorer in his junior year, and was named team captain in his Senior year.  He was part of the first PC Friars soccer team to rank in Top 20 and receive a post-season ECAC/NCAA tournament bid.  One of the first Enfield athletes to compete in the Big East Conference (October 1979 vs. Boston College).  Played for the Cape Cod Soccer League (Chatham Fog – 1984), was leading scorer and CCSL league MVP.  Latin American Soccer Association (1985), and member of New Bedford Portuguese-American Soccer club.  Founder, General Manager, and Player/Coach, Wellfleet Breakers Soccer Club of the CCSL (2008 to present).

GEORGE DALY AWARD WINNER – ENFIELD ROTARY CLUB

Organized in 1928 as the “Thompsonville Rotary Club.”   When Little League baseball was in its infancy, the Thompsonville Little League was among the earliest formed in Connecticut. Not only did two local Rotarians have a hand in forming the organization in the early 1950s, but another Rotarian also donated a playing field. The club sponsored a team in the league from the very beginning. In 1956, the club began awarding scholarships to college students from Enfield. Rotarians raised $600 annually and awarded two $300 scholarships to juniors and seniors in college. In the 53 years since its inception, the scholarship foundation has awarded more than $260,000 to students from Enfield. The club changed its name to “Rotary Club of Enfield” in the 1960s to better identify with the town as a whole. Enfield Rotarians are involved in many community service activities in the town of Enfield. These have included a “Career Shadowing Program” for high school students; supporting the Enfield Police Department’s annual “Toy for Joy” program and sponsoring an annual “Enfield Rotary Classic” high school girls’ basketball tournament during the holiday season, which has raised more than $20,000 for the Enfield and Fermi High School girls’ basketball teams since 1993.  They have raised money to provide a gazebo, outdoor benches, tables, trees, shrubs, and plantings for the Enfield Senior Center, and established a large vegetable garden at the Senior Center to support the Enfield Food Shelf and the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen. Truly an organization committed to the Town of Enfield and its residents.